


An Electric Game

by AgelessReaper



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, 더 게이머 | The Gamer (Webcomic)
Genre: Multi, gamer - Freeform, op
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:19:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 201,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29303346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgelessReaper/pseuds/AgelessReaper
Summary: An SI/OC wakes up in Skyrim with The Gamer ability. He screws a lot of things up.
Relationships: Serana/Female Dovahkiin/OC
Comments: 22
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

A.N. I apologize for the formatting, but I don't really have time to figure out the site right now. It was post now, or put it off until I figured everything out, and since I don't know when I'll have a chance to work on this again, I decided to just post it and make it pretty when I have time later. No telling when that'll be, but I'll get around to it when I can. I was originally going to post Mandalore and Cold Eyes here, but they're still up on SV, so I'm leaving them there. Might move Too Early here as well, but honestly it was a throw away that wasn't all that great. idk, I'll figure it out later. Enjoy!

  
[Congratulations! You are very dead!]

Um…. thanks?

[You are most welcome!]

The afterlife is an asshole. Is this because I didn’t accept Jesus?

[Your belief in the Christian faith plays no part in this discussion Gamer!]

Was it Buddhism? Was Buddhism the right answer? Wait… I’m hesitant to ask, but Gamer?

[Correct! You have been selected to be the newest Gamer!]

………...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! YEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!

[It is most excellent the newest Gamer is enthused with his nomination!]

This. This right here is by far the greatest thing to ever happen ever! I would say I can now die happy, but dying is what made me happy. Ok, wow. That sentence sounded depressing as all hell.  
Wait, you said ‘newest’. Does that mean all the others died, or are they all eons old omnipotent beings who will be breathing over my shoulder for the entire experience only to kill me when I no longer entertain them?

*Breathes enthusiastically*

That. That right there. That is the single most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me. It’s a pop-up window. How can you convey that much gut clenching terror with a pop-up window? This Gamer thing really tends towards extremes doesn’t it? Moving on, and forgetting that ever happened for the sake of my pre gamer’s mind sanity. There should be a character creation and all that jazz right?

[Correct! Please select a name and appearance!]

I see a grey mannequin join me in the nothingness and I start customizing. Ash colored hair, similarly colored eyes, make myself a taller 6’ 2”, athletic build without having bulging muscles. Huh, there’s an option to change genders. I mean, sure, I’ve kinda wondered what the other side is like. Then again, periods. Yep. I’m happy as a man. Submit.

[Please choose a name!]

Ok I was just not going to say anything, but what is with all the exclamation points?

[Enthusiasm!]

I honestly cannot tell if you answered the question or not.

Hmm, name. I can’t remember my old name. That is kind of depressing actually. Oh well, I guess this is a new start. New me, new name.

[Welcome to the Game Dusk!]  
[Please select a primary class!]  
[Mage/Warrior/Thief]

Mage. Magic is king. Besides, I can train everything else up once my magic is strong enough.

[Please select a specialization!]  
[Elementalist/Illusionist/Conjurer/Necromancer/Abjurer/Diviner]

The most OP option would probably be necromancer if you’re able to get enough bodies, but it will also be the most problematic. What world am I going to?

[World selection will take place once character creation has ended!]

That is tremendously unhelpful. Ok, I guess necromancers out for fear of getting stomped by the authorities. Illusionists are nice until someone sees through you. Just ask Jace Beleran. Oh god. Now I’m thinking giant planeswalking dragons and eldritch terrors. Can I have Gamer’s Mind please?

[Generic skills will be granted once character creation is complete!]  
[Please select a specialization!]

Ok. Just don’t think about it. Abjurer? Too little offensive potential. Diviner? Ha, no. Elementalist? Bread and butter with a pretty solid early game. So a solid option all considered. Conjurer? Depending on the limitations it could be stronger than necromancer, or weaker than diviner. I’m not willing to risk it. Elementalist.

[Please select a primary element!]  
[Fire/Ice/Earth/Wind/Lightning/Metal/Water]

Fire is good but too common. Everyone and their mother knows how to counter it. Ice is versatile, plus I have all of fiction to steal ice related abilities from. It suffers in the same way fire does though. It’s too common in some settings. Earth is out. Not my cup of tea. Same with metal and water. So lightning or ice? Lightning. I can use it to teleport, move quickly, and deny areas. 

[Please select a setting!]  
[Percy Jackson, Marvel, Skyrim, Mass Effect, Star Wars the Old Republic]

Options could be worse. Marvel is out immediately. I see a distinct lack of the letters MCU, and I wouldn’t go there either. Mass Effect is awesome, but I’m not too keen on hopping into a doomed galaxy. Swtor was a lot of fun, but I’m not backstabby enough to survive in the sith, and the jedi wouldn’t let me do anything. I don’t want to fight literal mythology either so no Percy Jackson. I know enough Elder Scrolls lore that I should be ok.

[Congratulations! You have completed character creation!]  
[Here are your skills!]

[Gamer’s Mind] (Passive)  
Allows the user to view life as a game  
Keeps user calm and acts as a mental defense

[Gamer’s Body] (Passive)  
The user’s body is now like that of an RPG character

[Observe] (Active)  
Grants information about the target  
Level difference can obscure information

[ID Create/Destroy] (Active0  
Costs 50 MP  
Creates a dungeon in place of the real world  
Available Dungeons  
-Zombie

[Human] (Default race)  
This short lived race makes up for their short time with their grit, unless the couch is open  
EXP gain increased 25%

[Class] (Electromancer)- Lvl 1/100  
Gain 5 INT, 5 WIS, and 2 DEX per Level

[Lightning Bolt]  
Costs 15 MP  
Deals INT + 20 Electrical Damage

[Lightning Cloak]  
Costs 25 MP  
Cloak yourself in electricity  
Deals INT + 15 Electrical Damage to nearby targets

[Stun]  
Costs 20 MP  
Stun a target, making them unable to act for a brief period of time

[Chain Lightning]  
Costs 50 MP  
Send a bolt of lightning forth to your enemy that chains to other nearby enemies  
Deals INT + 20 Electrical Damage to any target hit

[Lightning Flood]  
Costs 75 MP per 5x5m area affected  
Creates a flood of liquid lightning originating from a point you designate and spreads until stopped by caster  
Deals INT + 10 Electrical Damage to all caught in the flood

[Charged Attack]  
Costs 10 MP  
Imbue a melee weapon or your fists with electrical energy  
Adds INT + 5 Electrical Damage to any successful hit

I know kung fu. In all seriousness though, brain download for the win. I already love this ability.

Dusk  
Level- 1  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 1/100 [0%]  
Race- Human  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 100 [20 per minute]  
MP- 150 [30 per minute]  
SP - 100 [20 per minute]  
STR- 10  
END- 10  
DEX - 12  
INT - 15  
WIS - 15  
CHA - 10  
LUK - 10  
MP Regen= WIS x 2  
MP= INT x 10  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 10

I know I have no idea how I measure up to anyone I’m going to be fighting, but I feel powerful. I feel ready to take this on. Gamer’s Mind maybe?

[Before the game starts, there is an option to gain random perks!]

What’s the drawback?

[For every random perk you gain, you will also gain a random flaw!]

Will the flaws last forever, or will I be able to get rid of them further down the line?

[Once you are strong enough, you will be able to remove the flaws!]

I’ll take one.

Perk Gained  
[Magical Soul]  
You have magic in your soul  
MP is now INT x 20

Flaw Gained  
[Greed]  
Nothing is enough  
You always want more

Worth it! So worth it! More magic is exactly what a mage needs. I need another perk like that. Hit me again.

Perk Gained  
[Broken Limiter]  
You have broken your limits  
You can learn any skill through effort no matter its requirements  
Your EXP gain is also increased by 20%

Flaw Gained  
[You Smell Good]  
You are irresistible to all forms of monsters  
Expect to be hunted constantly

That’s a flaw?! I can just hide in an ID if I come across anything too terrible. And the PERK!!!! That is so broken. Hell, one of those effects is broken. The two combined is just downright unfair! Hit me again.

Perk Gained  
[Redistribution]  
Once every 5 minutes, redistribute your current MP, SP, and HP however you wish  
This can save your life, or give you that last burst of power to end a hard fight.

Flaw Gained  
[Martially Inept]  
Martial skills are not your forte  
All EXP gains to Martial skills are decreased by 50%

On the one hand, god level perks. On the other, my plan to get my other skills up once my magic was strong enough just got dismantled. I still have the bonuses from both Human and Broken Limiter though, so I’m only losing 5% EXP. I can afford one more flaw, then I’ll stop. 

Perk Gained  
[Son of the storm]  
Storm Magics(lightning, wind, water, etc.) are 25% more effective  
Storm Magics cost 25% less to cast  
Storm Magics LVL up 10% faster

Flaw Gained  
[Weak]  
END, STR, and DEX are all reduced by 50%(One time effect)

Yeeeeessssss! But also nooooooooo! The perk is amazing. The flaw is horrible! How the hell am I supposed to overcome that? I can’t lift a smartphone now! That’s it! No more! Now I need to grind my endurance and strength like nobody’s business. Dexterity will take care of itself so long as I’m leveling up. I suppose I should be thankful it’s a one time effect. If this were permanent I don’t see any way I could survive. I just need to find a way to live long enough to undo it. I’m ready, send me in.

Dusk  
Level- 1  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 1/100 [0%]  
Race- Human  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 50 [10 per minute]  
MP- 300 [30 per minute]  
SP- 50 [10 per minute]  
STR- 10/2=5  
END- 10/2=5  
DEX - 12/2=6  
INT - 15  
WIS - 15  
CHA - 10  
LUK - 10  
MP Regen= WIS x 2  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 10

[Understood! Best of luck to you Gamer!]

I wake to the sound of creaking wood and uneven roads. I open my eyes to find myself in the back of a horse drawn cart with a man in red armor driving. In the back with me I find two women and one man all in purplish blue armor with a bear’s head emblem on the cuirass. All of whom have downtrodden expressions. There is a somber feeling in the air as I take in my surroundings. I look down to see that myself and my fellow passengers are all bound at the wrists.  
Well at least I know when and where I’m starting. On the other hand, GODDAMN ALDUIN!!!! I have 50 HP! How am I going to get out of this? 

Quest added  
[The Tutorial!]  
You have found yourself in the setting’s tutorial. Wherein the final boss will come to say hello.  
Objective- Survive the tutorial  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Rewards- ?,?  
Bonus Rewards- ?,?  
Failure- You become an appetizer

Great, I’ve been here for all of 20 seconds and I already have a ‘Survive’ mission. This is great. I love this. If I jump off the cart and run will I get pincushioned like Lokir?  
Wait, Lokir isn’t in this cart. Neither are Ralof or Ulfric for that matter. I look behind us and see another cart following a little ways behind. Within I see two nord men with dirty blonde hair, another smaller nord male with black hair, and lastly a seemingly nord woman, also with black hair. I can’t make out too much detail given our distance and the interposing horse and driver of the other cart, but I can see enough to make some conclusions.  
Conclusion 1, I’m not in the cart with Ulfric and am therefore not the dragonborn. Conclusion 2, the woman is most likely the dragonborn. Conclusion 3, I’m not the dragonborn. Conclusion 4, I am so dead.  
How the hell am I supposed to live without plot armour? The dragonborn lives because everyone goes out of their way to throw themselves in front of the literal fire. For all intents and purposes, I’m just going to be another tasty little mortal. Why did I choose Skyrim? If I had picked Percy Jackson I would have at least lived through the tutorial.  
I guess operation glue myself to the Dovahkiin is a go. Anywhere she goes I go. I use her as a meat shield and hide in order to preserve my pathetically small health pool. I make myself useful by demonstrating my magic and play support for whoever we end up following.  
I hear a shout from the direction we’re heading and look over. I see a wall made of stone bricks and a wooden gate which leads into a small town. Well that trip didn’t last very long.  
Please let my head stay attached to my body until the surprise dragon arrives.  
We pull in and come to a stop in the town’s square as most of the townspeople look on from their front porches. I guess a beheading is pretty entertaining when you don’t have the internet to waste time on all day everyday.  
“Everyone out!” comes the call from our cart’s driver.  
Slowly we all stand and make our way off the cart. That one Imperial Captain who sentences the player to death is standing next to Hadvar while he reads out names. The Stormcloacks go before me and just as he gets to me the second cart pulls in with the protagonist in tow. 

Hadvar  
Loyal Imperial  
Level- 15  
Race- Nord  
HP- 750  
Thoughts about you- Confusion, Pity

I don’t want your pity, I want your hit points.  
“You.” Hadvar points at me. “Who are you? Your name isn’t here.”  
“Dusk.” I respond simply.  
“What are you doing in Skyrim imperial?”  
Am I an imperial? Am I even one of Skyrim’s races? ‘Human’ makes it seem like the answer is no.  
“I came to visit the college. I have committed no crimes. You have no right to imprison me.” I responded back.  
Hadvar pauses for a moment. “Captain? What do we do?”  
The captain meets my gaze with a sneer. “He goes to the block.” Her voice brokered no argument.  
Hadvar gives me an apologetic look before calling out the names from the other cart.  
I make my way into line and tune everything else out as I begin to run through my escape plan. Get to the tower, hide from the rage dragon. Jump through hole left by the rage dragon. Keep running from rage dragon. Hide behind the dragonborn and hope I don’t get squished. Not as much of a plan as a prayer.  
A great echoing roar pulled me back to reality as I started counting down the seconds. The imperials are confused and the captain is still being a controlling murderhobo. A second roar shakes the land and I prepare myself.  
“Svarline of Bruma.” Hadvar's voice pulls me back into the moment.  
I look over to the woman I assume to be the dragonborn and get my first real look at her. She is a slimmer nord who still manages to have an athletic build. She has raven black hair and eyes, and slightly pointed ears. Wait. She’s a half-elf? Those exist.

Svarline of Bruma  
The Dragonborn of Legend  
Level- 5  
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)  
HP- 275  
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)  
Thoughts about you- You’re not as important as her impending death

Huh, apparently half-elves exist now. That’s also confirmation of her being the dragonborn. Don’t worry Svarline, you aren’t going to be executed. You might be burned, crushed, maimed, and you might even get your head cut off in the coming hours, but you won’t be executed.  
Svarline is trembling as she slowly makes her way to the block. I get ready as she is forced to kneel, and then place her neck against the stone.  
I’ve beat Skyrim more times than I can count. I have experimented with countless builds, and goofed off in the game just for the fun of it. Alduin has never been all that intimidating. As final bosses go, he’s actually pretty lackluster. Heck, I killed the guy with one hit from a fork once. I have never taken him all that seriously. That just changed. It’s one thing watching a kill cinematic where your character is smaller than a dragon’s head. It’s something else entirely to be smaller than a creature’s head. Alduin is massive. His scales are black as night, and his legs longer and thicker than trees. His very presence screams power.  
I’m going to die aren’t I?  
“What in Oblivion is that?!” a panicked General Tullius yells.  
The World Eater lands atop a house and roars. The ground shakes and the sky breaks as meteors begin to fall.  
Yep. It’s time to tactically retreat with extreme prejudice.  
I start running towards the tower and see Ralof and Svarline already ahead of me. I arrive just before they close the door and slide in.  
As we catch our breath I take the chance to observe Ralof.

Ralof of Riverwood  
True Son of Skyrim  
Level- 8  
Race- Nord  
HP- 425  
Thoughts about you- You are not a dragon or an imperial so you’re an ally

Good to know he’s not going to stab me in the back at least. Oh, hello Ulfric. Didn’t see you there.

Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak  
The True High King  
Level- 56  
Race- Nord  
HP- 1580  
Unique Abilities- Thu’um(Can use the ancient magic of the dragons)  
Thoughts about you- You’re not a dragon so you aren’t important

Well screw you too ‘True High King’. I sure as hell didn’t vote for you. Man Gamer’s mind must be working overtime if I can crack jokes right now.  
“Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing? Could the legends be true?” Ralof asks his king.  
“Legends don’t burn down villages.” is Ulfric’s reply.  
“I hate to interrupt,” I say to the room, “but how are we going to get out of here.” I punctuate my sentence by casting a charged attack on my hands and use it to melt my bindings off. Before I dismiss it I reach over and do the same to Svarline’s. She gives me a thankful nod and turns back to the group.  
Ralof looks around for a moment before motioning to the stairs. “If we get to the top of the tower we’ll be able to see the best path.” He starts off and Svarline and I follow him.  
We continue climbing and I make sure to stay at the back. When Ralof reaches the second floor the wall collapses in on itself. Alduin shoves his head in and blankets the interior in his fire.  
“Against the wall now!” Ralof cries as he throws himself out of the way. Alduin flies off but his fire is still slowly spreading towards us.  
“The building over there!” Ralof points. “Jump!”  
He goes first followed quickly by myself and Svarline. We hit and roll to our feet.  
“Come on! I know of a keep we can get to!” Ralof says to us before he leads us into the chaotic streets. We dodge in and out of debris as we slowly make our way towards Ralof’s destination.  
What seems an eternity later we come to the keep the player escapes through in the game. “Inside quickly!” Ralof calls.  
We all throw ourselves in and shut the door behind us.  
“What in Oblivion is happening?!” Svarline practically shouts.  
“Was that a dragon?” Ralof asks quietly while he catches his breath.  
I move over to the equipment rack and start arming myself. “As far as I’m concerned, questions can wait until we’re safe. I would prefer to be alive and confused about our situation, than illuminated and dead.” I say as I pull on a belt and sheath a sword and dagger in it. Looking down at my new equipment I cast observe.

Iron Sword  
Deals STR + 10 Slashing or Piercing Damage

Iron Dagger  
Deals STR + 5 Slashing or Piercing Damage

So both of these are effectively useless for me right now. Great.  
“He’s right.” Svarline says to Ralof as she pulls on some light armor. She grabs a sword and dagger as well, before walking and grabbing a bow and arrows.  
I guess when Skyrim is no longer a game you can find better loot in the starting area.  
“Alright.” Ralof says as he grabs an axe, dagger, and shield. “Let’s get out of here.”  
Ralof leads the way deeper into the keep while we all keep our guard up. “It’s clear, let's move.” We run through an open area where we should have met some imperials, not that I’m complaining, and move down the stairs.  
“Wait!” Svarline says once we are halfway down the stairs. “I hear voices below us.”  
We continue to inch closer to the doorway and slowly take a look around the corner. In the potion room where I remember 2 or 3 enemies at most. There is a congregation of 7 imperials.

Imperial Soldier  
Level- 1  
HP- 125

“Maybe we can reason with them?” Ralof asks, then immediatly cringes when he sees the looks Svarline and myself are sending his way. “There’s a dragon attacking! They’ll be reasonable.” he argues.  
One of the imperials perks up. “Everyone quiet! I heard something.” She looks out the door and right at us. “Get them!” she shouts and they all charge.  
Rather than waste time reprimanding Ralof as I so wish to do, I cast lightning flood on the ground between us the moment they start charging. I keep powering the spell until my MP dries up, then draw my sword and fall back behind Ralof.  
When I’m better positioned I turn to see 3 of the imperials rolling around screaming in the liquid lightning and another 2 dead to the side with arrows protruding from their throats. The final two are being held back by Ralof at the door. I get behind Ralof to obscure myself from the imperials and stab down into the leader’s foot. He screams and drops his guard letting Ralof dispatch him.  
Losing his buddy left the remaining imperial open to another arrow from Svarline’s bow. I move past the first two bodies and start stabbing the still moaning imperials who were hit by my spell. It was great for cloud control but they’re still alive. Ralof and Svarline see this and quickly join me.  
Once they are all dead, we partake in the most glorious of traditions! Looting the bodies very quickly so as not to get crushed when the evil dragon collapses the building on our heads. Svarline and I replace our swords and we all grab up what money we can.

Imperial Sword  
Deals STR + 15 Slashing or Piercing Damage

84 Septims added

That done, I rush over to the shelves and barrels and pull out what potions I can find.

Minor Healing Potion x4  
Heals the target for 25 HP

Minor Mana Potion  
Restores the target for 25 MP

Minor Fire Resistance Potion  
The target takes 15% less damage from fire

Given our party make-up I give Ralof 2 of the healing potions, then give one to Svarline and keep the last one. I also give Svarline the fire resistance potion. It won't be much use here, and she has a career as a dragon slayer ahead of her.  
“Let’s move.” Ralof says. He leads us down deeper into the keep. We don’t meet any resistance until we get to the torture chamber.  
Ralof is the first one down the stairs and screams bloody murder before charging out of sight. We hurry after him to find the assistant stabbed through the back in the process of cutting up a stormcloak corpse. The overseer starts casting a fire spell but I stun him before he can get it off. Svarliene takes the opportunity to put 3 arrows into his stomach. Both imperials fall at the same time and we look around to make sure the room is clear.  
Ralof is still curled over the desecrated stormcloak when I start to loot the room. 

147 Septims added

Healing Potion  
Heals the target 50 HP

Minor Mana Potion x2  
Restores the target for 25 MP

I move to the mage and find Svarline has already got the cage open and taken all the gold. “Do you mind if I take the enchanted gear and the spellbook?” I ask.  
She shrugs, “Feel free, I’m not too great with destruction. More of an alteration mage.”  
I bend down and strip the mage of everything of value.

Ring of Shocking  
Shock spells deal 10% more damage

Necklace of the Student  
Wearer gains an extra 5% EXP

Lightning Teleport Grimoire  
Costs 100 MP  
Fire a lightning bolt and teleport to the location where the bolt hits  
Requires level 50 Electromancy

I put the necklace on the moment I observe it. More EXP is always welcome.. I put the ring on and looked at my stats. I have quite a few bonuses to my lightning magic. Not going to complain about that. I then walked behind the door frame to put the grimoire in my inventory without drawing attention.  
Ralof is still knelt over his friend when I return. I put a hand on his shoulder and said, “We need to go. It’s only a matter of time before the dragon destroys the keep. Mourn later.”  
Ralof starts to argue but stops himself. He grabs his axe and moves out of the room without a word.  
Svarline and myself follow him out and down the corridor. Past cells with more rotting corpses. And to a wooden bridge. Ralof pulls the lever and the bridge comes down with a loud *clang*.  
“What was that?!” someone on the other side shouts. Soon several more imperials are charging towards us.  
“Use the bridge as a chokepoint!” I yell, once more blanketing the ground in lightning.  
Ralof takes up position in front while Svarline backs up to the stairs to get a better angle on the approaching imperials. Two have already fallen to her arrows when they finally reach the lightning.  
The few in front try to stop, but are forced forward by those behind them. They go down and I send a lightning bolt into the next closest, sending him into the lightning as well.  
Another pair falls to Svarline’s arrows before one finally makes it to Ralof. They clash, but Ralof easily dispatches her after she had been stunned by me. With nine down we are through all but the last.

Imperial Captain  
Level- 5  
Hp- 750

He’s going to be a problem. I quickly stun him to buy more time when his armor suddenly turns into paper. He looks down confused in time to see an arrow and a lightning bolt connect with his now vulnerable sternum. He’s pushed back and tries to regain his balance but Ralof is on him too fast. Hacking into his stomach until he stops moving.  
I look back over to Svarline to see her panting. She meets my eyes and says, “It’s really hard to affect items that people are wearing.”  
I toss her one of the mana potions and she downs it in one go. Svarline retrieves her arrows and we all loot their gold.

84 Septems added

“Come on, we’re getting close.” Ralof says before moving to the other end of the cavern.  
Svarline and I go to follow when we hear a rumbling. The entire floor starts shaking and pieces of the ceiling fall around us.  
“Move!” Ralof bellows as we all charge through to the cave on the other side. Not a moment too soon as a stone falls behind us. Sealing us in.  
“Well that was close.” I say. Before the others can reply, a loud hissing sound echoes down from above us. I look up to see a sea of red eyes all looking directly at me. 

Frostbite Spider  
Level- 2  
HP- 55  
Unique abilities- Frostbite venom

I reach up and cast chain lightning at the nearest spider while backing away. The spell connects and begins to chain to the other spiders. It does little to deter them as every single one of them zeroes in on me. Svaline takes one down with her bow, and Ralof intercepts one, but the other five all converged on me.  
As they start to bite and pummel me I lose 35 HP immediately and come under the effects of a poison.

You have been Poisoned!  
SP regenerates 50% slower for 10 min.  
SP is reduced by 50% for 10 min.

This is bad. I cast lightning flood centered around me to catch all of the spiders in it. I then cast lightning cloak to cover each of them in even more damage. One goes down, two go down. I get bit again and lose another 20 HP. I cast a second chain lightning and the two more go down. The last one is getting ready to charge me when Ralof’s axe imbeds itself into the spider’s head.  
With the main threat out of the way I down a minor healing potion and a magicka potion to fix myself up a little bit.  
Svarline rushes up to me and her hands start to glow with a bright golden aura. She presses them into my chest and I instantly feel better. The poisoned status fades away and I gain another 10 HP.  
“Are you alright?” she asks when her spell is finished.  
“I will be when it stops hurting.” I reply.  
Ralof unlodges his axe before saying, “You must smell pretty good. They were all over you.”  
Oh. Oh that flaw is so much worse than I thought. I have instant everything aggro now. As a mage. If I get out of here, I need to hide in IDs for a solid month to get stronger.  
Ralof cleans his axe off then moves to the other end of the nest, “Come on. There’s probably a way out through here. Only way the spiders could have eaten without inciting the ire of the imperials.”  
I stand up and give my thanks to Svarline for the healing before following Ralof.  
We moved forward through the cave until we heard a roar. We all tensed up expecting a dragon to burn us away any moment, only to see a bear angrily charging at me. We all relaxed, and Svarline and I took it down with lightning and arrows.  
We kept walking until we saw light coming from an opening up ahead. We ran forwards and found ourselves outside of the cave. We let out a collective sigh of relief, and then had a shared heart attack as a massive shape flew directly over our heads.  
“Down!” I whispered forcefully, and we all dropped.  
Alduin let out one final roar before lazily flying away in the direction of the mountains.  
We waited with held breath for a whole five minutes before relaxing once more.  
“Looks like he’s gone for good this time.” Ralof sighed as he collapsed against a rock.  
“Yay! We lived! Now let’s never ever do that ever again.” I said as I too, collapsed.  
Svarline let out a chuckle and joined us on the ground.

Quest Completed!  
[The Tutorial!]  
You have found yourself in the setting’s tutorial. Wherein the final boss will come to say hello.  
Objective- Survive the tutorial(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Help the Dragonborn escape(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- (Help Hadvar or Ralof escape(Complete)  
Rewards- LVL UP x1, 1 Gacha Coin  
Bonus Rewards- LVL UP x2, 2 Gacha Coins

You Leveled up! X5  
+50 Stat Points!

Dusk  
Level- 5  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 4/100 [67%]  
Race- Human  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 250 [50 per minute]  
MP- 600 [60 per minute]  
SP- 250 [50 per minute]  
STR- 25  
END- 25  
DEX - 22  
INT - 30  
WIS - 30  
CHA - 10  
LUK - 10  
MP Regen= WIS x 2  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 10

Guess I level up after dungeons, not during. Good to know. The extra levels from the quest are also nice. Hmm, I wonder how Svarline and Ralof are doing. 

Svarline of Bruma  
The Dragonborn of Legend  
Level- 8  
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)  
HP- 350  
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)  
Thoughts about you- You saved her life, and reminded her what it is to have comrades

Ralof of Riverwood  
True Son of Skyrim  
Level- 10  
Race- Nord  
HP- 490  
Thoughts about you- You saved his life and fought beside him, you are his friend

They’re both stronger as well. So dungeons level up the whole party. Good to know.  
What’s this ‘comrades’ thing? Am I going to have to sit through a tragic backstory at some point? Way to check your cliche box there game.  
“What now?” Svarline asked the two of us.  
“My current plan is to enjoy not being dead. Once I figure out a long term I’ll let you know.” I responded.  
Ralof chuckled before adding his two septims, “We could head to Riverwood. It’s not far, and my sister has a home there. She’d be willing to take us in while we figure out a plan.”  
I look over to Svarline. “Better than anything I’ve got.”  
She nods and says, “Ok, Riverwood it is.”  
We all pull ourselves up from the ground and start slogging our way towards Riverwood.

Quest Added  
[Riverwood Ho!]  
Objective- Reach Riverwood  
Bonus Objective- Reach Riverwood in less than 5 hours  
Rewards- A place to sleep, food to eat  
Bonus Rewards- ?

Five hours? Oh no. The world scaled up didn’t it? This is going to suck.  
As we move, Ralof tells us about the stormcloaks, and not so subtly tries to recruit us. I politely turn him down explaining that I’m here to study at the college, and say I might be able to find a way to bring down the dragons if I work with the mages there. Svarline also turned him down by stating she’s in Skyrim to find someone, not fight a war. Ralof is obviously disappointed, but doesn’t push the issue.  
We walk for nearly two hours before we come to the standing stones. Guess the developers had to scale the continent down to keep people interested.  
Ralof explains what they are and how he took the warrior. While he is explaining everything in depth to Svarline I take a moment to observe them.

The Warrior Stone  
Mythic Item  
This stone will grant whoever touches it The Warrior Stone perk  
The Warrior Stone grants a 50% increase to all martial skill EXP gains  
Will remove other stone blessings

The Thief Stone  
Mythic Item  
This stone will grant whoever touches it The Thief Stone perk  
The Thief Stone grants a 50% increase to all thievery skill EXP gains  
Will remove other stone blessings

The Mage Stone  
Mythic Item  
This Stone will grant whoever touches it The Mage Stone perk  
The Mage Stone grants a 50% increase to all magis skill EXP gains  
Will remove other stone blessings

That is a full 30% more powerful than in the game! Ok, choice time. Thief is out, don’t need it yet. I could take The Warrior and completely negate my flaw, but that seems like a waste. I need to get strong quickly. I already have increases to my magic EXP gain. If I multiply it even more I can get ridiculously strong with little effort. Once that’s done, I can just come back and switch to the warrior to grind martial skills. Besides, I don’t have a martial class at the moment. That will make progress that much slower. Mage stone it is.  
I walked up and touched the center stone. I felt a connection and watched as the stone slowly started to glow. A beam of turquoise energy then shot out the top and kept travelling until it was out of sight.

New Perk Added!  
The Mage Stone  
Grants a 50% increase to all magis skill EXP gain  
Cannot hold any other stone perks while you holw The Mage Stone

Very nice.  
“Well isn’t that shocking?” Svarline drawled as she walked towards the stones.  
I paused for a moment while my brain caught up. “Did you just make a pun?”  
She just smiled at me before touching the mage stone herself, surprising me slightly. She seemed like she would be a stealth archer, not a mage.  
Ralof let out a sigh drawing our attention. “I’m surrounded by the cleverfolk.” he snipped playfully before turning and continuing towards Riverwood.  
We continue on for another hour when we hear a nearby howl. We stop and look towards the sound only for a wolf to jump me from behind. I lose 25 hit points as I feel fangs sink into my shoulder.  
Clever girl. 

Wolf  
Level- 3  
HP- 75

I bring up my lightning cloak and cast a charged attack on my fists. I begin to lay into the wolf as 3 others circle around me. As I finish off the one chewing on my shoulder The ground underneath two of the others turns into a very soft mud and they start to sink. Ralof runs in on my right and falls upon the one spared from the mud with his axe. Killing it instantly.  
I throw the wolf’s body off me before flooding the mud with liquid lightning. Roasting the trapped wolves with ease. I turn in time to see Svarline shoot an arrow into the wolf that originally howled. Dropping it with a well placed shot to its shoulder.  
We finish dispatching the wolves and take a breath.  
“I am so done right now.” I say to my companions as I start back on the path.  
The others fall in behind me and we walk for another 45 minutes before a stone wall can be seen. We’ve made it to Riverwood.

Quest Completed  
[Riverwood Ho!]  
Objective- Reach Riverwood(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Reach Riverwood in less than five hours(Complete)  
Rewards- A place to sleep, food to eat  
Bonus - Shocking Blade

Shocking Blade  
Uncommon Item  
Deals STR + 20 Slashing or Piercing damage per hit  
Deals INT + 10 Electrical damage per hit

Not bad at all. Too bad I’m currently martially inept.  
We walk into town and Ralof leads us to his sister’s home. She welcomes us with little fanfare, prepares us a meal and beds then goes off to talk with Ralof. Leaving me and Svarline alone.  
We don’t talk, too busy inhaling the food. Once we are done we share a look, before looking to the beds. With an unspoken understanding between us. We both clean our dishes and crawl into bed to go to sleep.


	2. 2

[You have rested in a bed for 8 hours!]  
[HP, SP, and MP restored!]  
[EXP gain increased by 15% for the next 6hours!]

Resting gives some pretty good bonuses.   
I slowly sit up to find several people sleeping on the various beds around me. Svarline and I were given bedrolls while Ralof, his sister Gerdur, and their family are passed out on beds packed with fur and straw.  
As carefully as I can so as not to disturb anyone, I get up and make my way upstairs. I grab an apple off the table and walk out the front door.  
The sun isn’t visible yet but the horizon possesses an orange hue signaling that it will soon. I sit down onto a bench next to the door and start on my apple while I think.  
So… yesterday happened. It was hectic, but I’m not dead! What do I do now?  
I have a good idea of what comes next, but I’m hesitant to rely on outside knowledge for anything other than concrete fact. The last thing I need is to run into a crypt expecting a spider and meet a draugr overlord. Instant game over.  
Anyway, back to planning. Important question, what am I trying to accomplish? Right now, I need to focus on power leveling to the point where I can survive being sneezed on. I also need to avoid anything that is able to sneeze me to death. Meaning dragons, vampires, giants, and the stronger draugr should be avoided if at all possible.   
As a pathway to power leveling, I need to abuse the hell out of ID create. I also need to figure out where the heck I need to go. I’m fairly confident Ralof will ask either Svarline or myself to let Whiterun know about Helgen, and Whiterun is fairly close to the center of Skyrim. Making it a good place to start. After I get there, I need to do what keeps me alive longest. I’m a mage, so college is the most obvious option. That is if I can live through the hundred of so frost trolls I’ll encounter because of that irritating flaw. That thing really limits my options. Until I’m strong enough to survive on my own I’m going to need backup.  
Which leads to the million dollar question. Do I stay with our lady dragonborn? Pro, she’s got some pretty useful alteration magic that’s great for crowd control and tough enemies. Con, I’m almost certain to get dragged into the main storyline. Pro, she also has some restoration magic, and healers are ridiculously useful. Con, followers, because that’s essentially what I’ll be, have a tendency to die in hilariously painful ways. Pro, I’ll have someone watching my back to help with any creatures that catch a whiff of me. Con, if I get swept up into the main story grinding levels is going to become significantly harder.  
I let out a sigh as I finished off my apple. This sucks.  
Ok, options other than hanging with Svarline? I could try to miracle my way to Winterhold and find the Eye of Magnus. Maybe even become archmage if I play my cards right. I could just find a cave to hide in while I abuse ID create to level up. Only emerging when I’m strong enough to not get dead. I could also try to get myself changed into a vampire or werewolf for the instant power boost.  
Wait… vampire. I know where Serana is. I could totally break her out and get harkon to change me.  
…..  
…..  
…..  
That is the worst idea yet.  
Skipping over the part where I would need to solo one of the harder dungeons in the game. Filled with undead hordes, giant frostbite spiders, master vampires, and gargoyles. Putting myself anywhere near Harkon is a hilariously bad idea. The only reason the MC makes it out in game is because they paid money for the DLC. If the developers had him act like his normal assholey self and kill you, it would’ve made for shitty content. I have no guarantee he won’t just say, “Thanks for the Elder Scroll!” *CHOMP* So that plan’s out.  
Honestly, the best plan for right now looks like hanging with Svarline. Tell Balgruuf his lands have a slight case of world ending dragon, maybe get the dragonstone and hope and pray no watchtowers are burnt down.  
I look up and see the sun beginning to peek over the horizon. Guess I'll keep hiding behind the dragonborn until I come up with something better.  
Well now that that’s out of the way, time to grind.   
I go to stand up and cast ID Create when the door to Gerdur’s house opens, and out walks Svarline.  
I cry internally. I just want to become all powerful! Is that really so much to ask you damn univer..., I mean, you damn Godhead?!  
“Hey.” she says when she spots me.  
“Uh, hi. How’re you holding up?” I say back as I sit back down.  
She pauses for a moment and looks at the slowly rising sun. “That really happened yesterday didn’t it?” She asks weakly.  
I give a weak laugh. “Either that, or we all shared one hell of a skooma trip.”  
She quiets down for a moment, then takes a seat in one of the nearby chairs. “So much happened in such a short time. It’s hard to believe half of it’s real. Let alone the giant murderous dragon.”  
I nod and say, “Ya, the amount of shit we just lived through is truly ridiculous.”  
We lapse into silence for a few minutes before the door opens once more, and Ralof pokes his head out. “Come on in,” he says. “Gerdur’s got breakfast ready.”  
We both stand and head inside. We sit down at the two empty seats and everyone quietly eats their food. Once we all finish, Hod, Gerdur’s husband, takes their son Frodnar outside to give us some space.  
“Alright Ralof,” Gerdur begins. “you’ve rested and eaten. So now I need you to tell me if what you said last night is true or if you were just drunk off your ass.”  
Ralof’s gaze unfocuses as he responds. “It’s true. The Imps captured us. They were going to execute Ulfric to end the war when oblivion opened up. A giant black dragon destroyed the entire town. I don’t know who all got out. The only reason us three made it is luck.”  
I’d argue that point if it weren’t so true. I need to get stronger fast.  
Gerdur forces Ralof to look her in the eyes and holds his gaze. After a few moments she lets out a sigh and releases him. “If it’s really that bad, then we need to do something. Riverwood isn’t equipped to fight off large amounts of bandits, let alone a god's be damned dragon! Someone needs to take this to the Jarl, and it won’t be you Ralof.” She says as he goes to speak. “There are too many Imperial sympathizers in the city. If they see your face they’ll hang you before they let you talk.” Gerdur turns to Svarline and myself. “I thank you for bringing my brother back alive, but I need your help. We need the Jarl's aid in dealing with this, and I can’t go myself. Would the both of you be willing to help?”

Quest added  
[Riverwood’s in Peril!]  
With a dragon on the loose, Riverwood is defenseless. Go beseech the Jarl for aid on their behalf  
Objectives- Tell Jarl Balgruuf of the dragon threat and get help for Riverwood  
Reward- ?  
Time Limit- One Week

Well when you put that question mark there I have to accept. “I’ll go.” I say, and Gerdur gives me a grateful nod.  
“I will as well.” Svarline says. We share a look and give each other a nod.  
Gerdur leans back in her chair and lets out a breath. “Thank you both. I don’t mean to evict you from my home, especially after your ordeal, but you need to leave as soon as possible. I’ll prepare some travel packs for the two of you. Be ready to leave in three quarters of an hour.” She stands up and walks down the stairs. Presumably to go pack us some supplies.  
Ralof watches his sister go before turning to the two of us. “Thank you for this. I’m sorry you can’t rest more but she’s right. The longer the town’s without defenders the worse off we are.”  
“It’s no trouble. Thank you for letting us stay the night.” Svarline says and I nod my agreement.  
Ralof leans in and looks between us. “I didn’t thank you before, we were all too tired, but thank you both. It’s a fact that I would be dead right now if it weren’t for you. Whether killed by the Imps, or crushed while still sitting over Jollond.” At the name his expression falls, before rising to us once again. “Thank you, if there is ever anything I can do for either of you, you need only ask.”  
“Well since you mentioned it,” I start, “would you mind pointing me in the direction of the trader here in town? I’d like to stock up before we head out.”  
Ralof smiles. “Sure thing.”  
He leads me outside, being careful not to be seen, and points me toward the center of town and gives me some directions.  
I head off and do my best to follow Ralof’s instructions but the town is nothing like in the game. It is at least twice as large and not built to make sense to a city slicker like myself. After about 10 minutes of wandering I find the Riverwood Trader and walk inside.  
“...well if you had just locked the door like I….” comes a shout from inside.  
Ya, no. Skip!  
“Excuse me!” I call, “Is this the general goods store.”  
A dark haired man and woman both look towards me before shrinking in on themselves.  
“Oh, um, yes! It is! Welcome! How can I help you?” The man stammers out while the woman walks behind the counter.  
“I’m looking for spellbooks, and books on enchanting and alchemy.” I say as I make my way to the counter.  
The shop is different as well, at least twice as large with three times as many shelves. Meta knowledge, the greatest weapon of SI’s everywhere, oh why have you failed me?  
“Sure thing!” The woman says a little too chirpily before walking me to a particular shelf. “These are all the spells we have. They’re a little hard to come by so we don’t have much. I’ll go grab you what we have on those crafts you were after.”   
When she walked away I looked over the five spells.

Summon Wolf Spirit  
Costs 50 MP  
Conjure a spectral wolf to fight by your side  
The wolf is as strong as a typical wolf and lasts until killed or dispelled

Summon Fire Elemental(Requires Conjurer or Summoner Class)  
Costs 175 MP  
Conjure a fire spirit to fight at your side  
The spirit as as strong as a journeyman pyromancer and lasts until killed or dispelled

Stone Barrage(Requires Elemental mage level 35)  
Costs 80 MP  
Rain down a hail of boulders on your enemies  
Fires INT boulders that do INT + 20 crushing damage on hit

Spectral Armor(Requires Conjurer or Summoner Class)  
Costs 200 MP  
Don a spectral armor that lasts until dismissed or broken  
Absorbs INT + 50 damage

Heal  
Costs 30 MP  
Heals the target for INT + 10 damage and neutralizes weak venoms and poisons

Ok game I have some questions about the magic.

[I will answer any question I am able!]

Why can I use the wolf spell, but not the fire elemental? Can I get more classes, and how do I find more lightning spells?

[Excellent question!]  
[To start, any mage can use the basic spells of any other discipline, but they must be specialized to learn the more potent magics!]  
[You can have 1 combet class and 1 crafting class at a time, and you gain more when you max your current ones out!]  
[You can receive new lightning spells by leveling up or by finding them in the world!]  
[Once you get truly powerful, you won’t even need spells!]  
[You will instead be able to shape your lightning however you see fit and use it in ways limited only by your imagination!]

There’s some potential there…  
Thanks game.

[You are welcome Gamer!]

Camilla came back with two books, one on alchemy and one on enchanting. I grabbed Heal, and summon wolf spirit off the shelf and followed her over to the counter. “How much for all this?”  
“300 septims.”   
Well crap. I’ve only got 231. I choose you bargainfu!  
“How about 150 and I trade this grimoire?” I say as I put down the teleportation tome. I’ll probably get it when I level to 50, and even if I don’t. I need this stuff now.  
Carmilla looks it over, “250 and the tome.”  
“200.”   
She smiles. “Deal.”  
We exchange goods, and I leave with two new spells and two crafting books.  
On my way back to Gerdur’s house I look them over.

Alchemy skill book  
Grants the [Alchemist!] crafting class

Enchanting skill book  
Grants the [Enchanting!] crafting class

Enchantments good but best at high levels. I’ll take alchemy for now.

Class gained  
[Alchemist!]- LVL 1/50   
Brew potions, and poisons to use on your journeys  
Gain 1 INT, and 1 WIS per level

As I gain the class I gain a few simple recipes. I can now make minor potions and poisons whose effects are simple, healing, harming, etc. Not a bad investment at all. Even if I’m broke now.  
I make it back inside the house right as Gerdur’s is coming up the stairs with two knapsacks.  
“I packed you some rations, tinderbox, bedrolls, a map, all the usuals.” She says as she hands them off to the two of us. “Take this as well.” She says as she pulls a ring from her pocket. “The Jarl will know I sent you if you present him with that.”  
Svarline takes the ring and puts it in a satchel she didn’t have when we got here. She must have gone shopping too.  
We all move to the front yard and Ralof walks up to shake our hands. “Thank you again for all you’ve done. Until we meet again my friends.”  
Svarline and I say our goodbyes and start down the road in the direction of whiterun. Using our newly acquired map of the hold as a guide.   
It takes us around 15 minutes to get out of town at which point I summon my new dog. Without having to worry about him timing out I can just keep him with us for the whole trip.  
Svarline looks down at him, then back to me. “You have a ghost hound.” she states.  
With one hand petting him I look her in the eyes and say, “His name is Mr. Rogers and he is perfect.”  
She looks at me for a moment as if she can’t decide what to do, before smiling and saying, “I don’t know about perfect, but he is pretty pawsome.”  
My hand froze on Mr. Roger’s head.  
“This is gonna be a thing isn’t it?” I sighed.  
She just smiled even wider and continued on.  
I sighed and followed.  
Not 30 minutes later we got jumped by wolves.  
Luckily, now that we hadn’t just run from the firstborn of Akatosh we were able to dispatch the pack fairly easily.  
And the next one.  
And the next one.  
And the next one.  
Oh look a bear!

A bear  
Level- 5  
HP- 175

Svarline and I shredded it from range while Mr. Rogers distracted it. He is best boy.  
After two hours of walking we had killed over two dozen wolves and three bears. This flaw is a curse. I guess that’s kind of the point.  
On the other hand…..

Level Up! X3  
Gain +30 Stat Points

Thank you very much, absolutely ludicrous EXP gain.  
Dusk  
Level- 8  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 7/100 [82%]  
Crafting Class- Alchemist LVL 4/50 [47%]  
Race- Human  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 300 [60 per minute]  
MP- 900 [90 per minute]  
SP- 300 [60 per minute]  
STR- 30  
END- 30  
DEX - 28  
INT - 45  
WIS - 45  
CHA - 20  
LUK - 20  
MP Regen= WIS x 2  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 10

I guess it’s also a blessing so long as you’re only in an area with trash mobs. Not looking forward to the higher level zones.  
“This is the most animals I have seen in the woods at one time,” Svarline comments after the second bear. “And they are all after you.”  
“Nature hates me.” I respond simply.  
We walked for another 4 hours, killed another three dozen wolves and two bears when we came to the top of a hill and got our first view of Whiterun.  
Once again, the city was much larger than in the game. It took up three times the space and the walls actually looked maintained. They weren’t all crumbly, but instead solid bricks.  
Svarline looked as if she was doing mental math before she said, “Looks like it will only be another hour until we get there. If we hurry we’ll still have some sun left.”  
I look up to see the sun about a fourth of the way from the horizon. “Well then, let’s get going.”  
We walked for half an hour when Mr. Rogers started barking up a storm. Svarline and I paused to look where he was looking and saw a very big thing lumbering towards us.

Forest Troll  
Level- 15  
HP- 525  
Unique abilities- Troll physiology(Regenerates 10 HP every 5 seconds and can regrow limbs, ability is negated by fire and acid)

Well this is bad.  
“Mr. Rogers, run literal circles around him to keep him distracted! Svarline, we have to hit him, and not stop hitting him!”  
Svarline and I took up positions on a nearby rock and started laying into the troll while Mr. Rogers used his superior speed to keep the troll from hitting him.  
We threw everything we had into him. I did my level best to turn him into a fried chicken, and Svarline made him into a pincushion.   
It was working, but slowly. Everytime we let up for even a moment the arrows would fall out of him and the flesh would close up Wolverine style.  
On one of his passes, Mr. Rogers came to close and got smacked with a ginormous hand.  
He yiped and faded into nothingness.  
“You killed my dog asshole!” I yelled before covering the ground in lightning. I turned to Svarline. “Do the thing with the mud!”  
She looked at me for a moment before nodding. She gathered mana and changed the dirt beneath the troll into a deep mud. Stopping him from moving out of the lightning.  
With his healing effectively negated by the lightning flood, we doubled down and began to tear into him from range once more.  
He tried to struggle his way out but finally succumbed when an arrow embedded itself into his eye.  
Well that was fun.

Level Up! X3  
Gain +30 Stat points

Dusk  
Level- 11  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 10/100 [23%]  
Crafting Class- Alchemist LVL 7/50 [64%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 300 [60 per minute]  
MP- 1360 [136 per minute]  
SP- 300 [60 per minute]  
STR- 30  
END- 30  
DEX - 34  
INT - 68  
WIS - 68  
CHA - 30  
LUK - 30  
MP Regen= WIS x 2  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 10

We took a few minutes to catch our breath before standing. I resummoned Mr. Rogers and started petting him.  
“You’re ok. Ssuuch a goood boy! I’m sorry the big mean troll hurt you. You’re safe now.” Mr. Rogers nuzzled my hand and panted happily.  
Svarline walked over to the dead troll and observed our handy work. “Well,” she said, “we really did this troll dirty.” She looked back at me and grinned like a lunatic.  
That’s a modern phrase. How the hell does she know it?   
I groaned and turned back to Mr. Rogers. “When we get to Whiterun we need to get a new travelling companion. This one’s defective.”  
Savrline laughed and we continued on our way.  
Half an hour later we had made it to the farms surrounding Whiterun. The sun was close to setting, and I was happy. There was no giant! We didn’t have to tangle with any lanky monstrosities today! No sir! We can just walk right in and…….  
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! THERE’S A GIANT!!!!!!!”  
Godamnit Murphy. I will find a way to neuter you.  
Svarline and I looked towards the scream to see a blue skinned monstrosity in a loincloth heft a tree trunk over its head and slam it down. Turning the man beneath him into red mist.

Giant  
Level- 52  
HP- 5670  
Thoughts about you- The puny people must die

Oh look, it’s sentient. How nice. We can probably reason with hi... LIGHTNING BOLT!  
Mr. Rogers charged forth while Svarline started casting a spell. I just kept hammering the giant with spell after spell. Targeting his knees to make it harder for him to walk.  
The giant grunted in anger and started trying to move towards us. He swung at Mr. Rogers with his tree but was too slow. So he settled for a field goal kick. Sending the phantom pup flying through the air all, and the way back to Oblivion.  
I heard shouting behind me but tuned it out as I sent lightning into the ground, then resumed my kneecapping. The giant stumbled but kept getting closer.   
I threw everything I had into my magic but the giant just kept coming. He opened up into a full sprint, his arms pumping, his loincloth swinging violently. He was quickly closing the short distance between us.  
I was running out of ideas when a loud *GONG* echoed out from the giant. The hulking figure bent in half to grab his… solid steel loincloth? Oh that poor bastard. Eh, an opening is an opening. I redoubled my efforts now aiming for the beautifully conductive clothing article causing the giant to scream in agony. Svarline, now done with her spell, started shooting arrows into his joints as we backed up to get more room.  
The giant was still writhing on the ground in pain when several figures charged past us from behind. Each carrying a weapon and adorned in heavy metal armor.  
The one in the lead let out a war cry before bringing his sword down into the grounded giants shoulder.  
Hello Companions.

Vilkas  
The Brains of Ysgramor   
Level- 78  
Race- Nord  
HP- 945  
Thoughts about you- You put yourself in danger to defend these people. You are a worthy warrior

Farkas  
The Strength of Ysgramor  
Level- 76  
Race- Nord  
HP- 920  
Thoughts about you- You put yourself in danger to defend these people. You are a worthy warrior

Aela  
The Huntress  
Level- 73  
Race- Nord  
HP- 670  
Thoughts about you- You’re not too bad, for a spell flinger

More arrows join Svarline’s and an axe finds its way to the giant’s other shoulder. Each strike from a companion hits like a freight train, and the giant, wounded already, stands no chance.  
He falls with one last sword strike piercing his neck.

Level Up! X4  
Gained +40 Stat points

Dusk  
Level- 15  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 14/100 [79%]  
Crafting Class- Alchemist LVL11/50 [32%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 400 [80 per minute]  
MP- 1840 [184 per minute]  
SP- 400 [80 per minute]  
STR- 40  
END- 40  
DEX - 42  
INT - 92  
WIS - 92  
CHA - 40  
LUK - 40  
MP Regen= WIS x 2  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 10

“Well fought!” Call the black haired Vilkas as he removes his sword from the giant. “I am Vilkas, of the Companions.”  
“Farkas.” his brother adds as he starts to clean his axe.  
“I’m Dusk.” I say, realizing this is the first time Svarline’s heard my name. We didn’t really have time to introduce ourselves ever.  
“Svarline.” My companion replies.  
“And I am Aela.” the huntress replies as she cleans off the arrows she was able to salvage. “What say you two join us in Jorrvaskr for a celebration of the kill?”  
“We would be honored.” Svarline answers for me, “but we must speak with the Jarl or his advisors first. We bring word from Riverwood.”  
The three Companions pause, and look towards us with unconcealed interest. “Riverwood still stands?” Vilaks asks. “When that beast was spotted flying away we feared the worst.”  
Huh, apparently people have eyes in Skyrim. Who’d a thunk it?   
“Riverwood stands yes, but Helgen’s gone. We were there when it fell.” Svarline replies.  
“We must get you to the Jarl then,” Vilkas stresses, “he will want to hear your story first hand.”  
With that the Companions wave down a guard and tell him to clean up the giant’s mess before leading Svarline and myself towards the gate. The steel gate rises to accept the trio and we are not even given a second glance. Guess the Companions understandably have a lot of pull in the city.  
Once more I see streets and buildings I don’t recognize as the companions lead us at a brisk pace towards the north end of the city. After a 10 minute walk we come to the bottom of a castle built into and on top of the mountain. It’s actually a fairly pretty sight with the sun slowly setting behind it.  
“Come.” says Vilkas as he begins the trek up the large staircase.  
I feel like Po walking up to the Jade Palace for how many stairs I have to climb.   
Eventually, we make it to the top and are stopped by four guards in front of the large wooden doors.  
“These two bring word from Helgen and Riverwood.” Vilkas says, and the guards let us pass.  
We come into a large open space leading to the throne, and a mass of bickering people. Oh, I can’t skip the politics this time can I? I’ll just let Svarline do the talking unless I’m needed. Oh god. I've already started thinking like a follower. I’m doomed.  
We move forward and go unnoticed until a dark elf woman stops our approach.  
“What is your business here that it cannot wait?” Irileth says as her hand drops to rest on the pommel of her sword.  
Svarline steps forward. “We’ve come from Riverwood, and Helgen before that. Helgen has been destroyed and Riverwood calls for aid.”  
At her declaration the many voices in the room die as all eyes turn to her. I very smoothly move away from all the attention. A public speaker I am not.  
A blonde nord sitting in a large chair says, “Come forward, let us hear your words.”  
Svarline takes the lead as I try to disappear into the background.  
Stop looking at me. I hate this. I hate politics. I hate talking to people. I hate talking to assholes, and 90% of these guys are most definitely assholes. Can we just go to Bleakfalls already? Come on! I am so done with this. One day soon I will be all powerful! I will move mountains and earth with my magic and you shall all tremble before me! Then, you will all worship the ground upon which I tread! You will speak my name in the same breath as the very Gods! This I swear! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh they’re talking.  
“...in large part thanks to luck.” Svarline says. “The city was collapsing around us and we were able to make it out through a cave system. The way fell in on itself behind us, so I don’t know if there were any other survivors. Once we made it out, we made our way to Riverwood where Gerdur took us in and asked us to request aid on her behalf.” she finishes as she pulls out the ring and holds it out to the Jarl.   
He stands up and takes it, to the shocked gasps of a few of the nobles. Must’ve broken some stick-in-the-ass etiquette or something.   
Balgruuf turns to Irileth. “Send any troops we can spare to Riverwood. Send a caravan with them containing food and other supplies. We will not lose Riverwood.” He states with finality.

Quest Complete!  
[Riverwood’s in Peril!]  
With a dragon on the loose, Riverwood is defenseless. Go beseech the Jarl for aid on their behalf  
Objectives- Tell Jarl Balgruuf of the dragon threat and get help for Riverwood(Complete)  
Reward- 1 Gacha coin

I really need to find a time to use those damn coins.  
Irileth nods, bows and then starts walking away as the nobles in the area all start spouting nonsense about labor costs and other bullshit. The only ones present who don’t ignore them are themselves.  
The Jarl looks between Svarline and me. “The two of you come with me.” He turns to the Companions, “Thank you for seeing them in. I will be sure to make sure anything else divined here will be passed on to you.”   
The Companions thank the Jarl then turn and walk out.  
Balgruuf leads us through a set of hallways until we come to an isolated room with two figures hunched over a table.  
One is a black haired man who wears a long black robe while the other is a blonde haired woman with simple leather armor.   
The Jarl walks right up to them, interrupting their conversation. “Farengar. These two have brought news of Helgen’s destruction.” The mood in the room instantly sours. “They were there, and saw the beast up close. I need you to…”  
“My Jarl!” a panicked voice interrupts whatever Balgruuf had planned to say next.   
We all turn to look at the door we just came through to see Irileth. “My lord, the Northern Watchtower is under attack! It’s a dragon!”  
Fuck.


	3. 3

Balgruuf did not hesitate in the slightest, simply saying, “Everyone with me. Irileth, what do we know?”  
We all fell in behind him and Irileth began to give her report.  
Two of the guards we had stationed at the tower ran here to report. The rest stayed behind to fight the beast. The runners say they left the tower a little over 30 minutes ago. There’s no telling how much damage the dragon has been able to do in that time.”  
Balgruuf looked to Svarline and said, “How long did it take for the black one to burn Helgen.”  
Svarline froze up a little at the question. “I… I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention. I was too focused on getting out.” She looks like she’s starting to zone out so I pick up the question for her.  
“It couldn’t have been any longer than 45 minutes at the most. If I were to guess I would say it took around 25 minutes to bring everything down.”  
Balgruuf cursed as we made our way back into the throne room. We were immediately rushed by a horde of nobles blabbering about their holdings, and needing protection.   
Balgruuf stopped it all with a yell. “Enough! No one in this room will speak unless spoken to.” The room grew deathly silent almost immediately.   
Damn this dude has a presence. Now I’m curious.

Jarl Balgruuf  
Jarl of Whiterun  
Level- 54  
Race- Nord  
HP- 450  
Thoughts about you- Your experience could save his hold so he needs you right now

Ya, he’s a bit of a badass.   
“Hrongar,” Balgruuf turned to his brother. “Send a runner to the Companions immediately. Tell them of the situation and have them send any warriors they can to the front gate. We’ll need as many men as we can get. Irileth, gather any guard we can spare and send them as well. Farengar gather any potions and scrolls you have that might be of use and get them to Irileth. You will stay behind in case the beast heads this way. You two.” Balgruuf turns and looks to Svarline and myself. “I cannot order you to aid me in this endeavor, but you have both seen these things up close. Your support could be invaluable. If you fight I will see to it you are rewarded.”  
Svarline freezes for a second, before her face hardens and she steps up, “I’m with you.” she says, then looks at me.  
Fighting dragons! Just the thing I wanted to avoid when I came here. I don’t know if I’m willing to do this.

Quest added!  
[Slay the Dragon!]  
A dragon has destroyed the Northern Watchtower and could move towards the city. Kill it before it has the chance!  
Objective- Slay the Dragon  
Bonus Objective- Slay the Dragon without more then 40 defenders dying  
Bonus Objective- Slay the Dragon without more than 20 defenders dying  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Rewards- ?, ?  
Bonus Rewards- ?,?,?,?

Oh, those damn question marks are going to be the literal death of me. Wait, Northern watchtower? Isn’t it supposed to be.. You know what? Not important.  
“I’ll fight.” I say, prompting Svarline to smile and Balgruuf to give a grateful nod.  
“Go to the front gate and wait for the rest of our force. Thank you both.” Balgruuf says to us before rushing over to another man in heavy armor and issuing more orders.  
“Suppose we should get going.” I say looking over to Svarline. She looks, excited? Great. Just throw it on top of the ‘worry about later’ pile I guess.  
She nods and says, “Let’s go kill a dragon.” With that she takes off running out of the castle and I follow on her heels. We exit the building to see the sun slowly sinking below the mountains. We have maybe an hour of sunlight left before we’ll be fighting at night. We need to do this fast.   
We weave our way back through the streets and towards the gate we originally came through.  
A short run later we come to a stop before a mass gathering of people. A few dozen guards all armed with bows, and swords. The alchemist Arcadia, and her… apprentice?, who are passing out a number of potions with various effects. As well as a group of over two dozen Companions with Farkas, Vilkas and Aela among them. More people trickle in as we stand and wait for the order to move.  
“Hello again.” Vilkas says as he walks up to us. “Didn’t expect to see you again so soon. Are you here to fight with us?”  
“Yes.” Svarline answers. “The Jarl believes that since we’ve seen one up close we’ll be able to help.  
Aela grins as she joins Vilkas. “The more the merrier. We will bring this beast down yet!”  
Before anyone can say more a group of heavily armed and armored men with Whiterun’s crest emblazoned on their chests arrives behind Irileth. Now that I’m looking at them I realize they were standing guard in Dragonsreach. Balgruuf’s personal guard? Or maybe just elit soldiers? Wow I need to focus.  
“I’ll keep this brief.” Irileth says as she arrives. “That worm in the sky is a threat. It has already shown hostility towards us, and might attack us here. Attack our homes, our families. So we will kill the beast, and be remembered in song as the first heroes of the age to fell a dragon! Move out!”  
A loud cheer erupts from the assembled warriors and we all start to jog towards the tower.  
No words are shared as we make our way. Everyone prepares for the battle in their own way.  
I summon Mr. Rogers to my side, getting a few strange looks before everyone accepts it. He barks happily and starts running at my side. I don’t expect him to do any damage. I’m going to have him take part in search and rescue. Finding the wounded so Svarline or I can heal them. I want those bonus rewards damnit.  
Speaking of rewards...

Gacha Coin x4  
Use this trusty coin to get one random item or ability from the Gacha store. You could get the Infinity Gauntlet! Or Goldilocks’s too cold porridge. Care for a spin?

Please in the name of all that is holy give me something good.

-1 Gacha Coin  
Item Added  
A Mop  
Use this trusty mop to clean up all sorts of messes and spills.

…..  
…..  
…..  
I AM GOING TO MURDER A FACE!!!!!  
Are you kidding me?!  
A freaking mop?!  
I am walking into a battle with an age old entity that yells fire!  
We are going to do this again, and you are going to give me something useful.

-1 Gacha Coin  
Spell Added  
Chidori  
Costs 175 MP to cast  
This mana equivalent works just the same as the chakra version. It grinds and slices anything you touch to the sound of chirping birds!

Ok I am really grateful to receive such a useful skill, but I meant useful as in it can be used to survive the impending dragon fight! I have to be within arms reach of the thing to use this! Arms reach of a freaking dragon! I’ll be long dead by then!  
Please please please please please give me something I can use to live through a dragon attack.

-1 Gacha Coin  
Item Added  
A lucky penny  
This penny will always land on heads when flipped

This is it. I am actually going to die. I didn’t last two days in this nightmare.  
I’m begging you! Please give me something that will let me live.

-1 Gacha Coin  
Spell Added  
Godspeed- Speed of Lightning  
Costs 300 MP to Cast  
Infuse yourself with lightning to overcharge your muscles to become as fast as lightning! Warning! Excessive use can result in the user being unable to activate this ability for as long as a week.

Thank you! Thank you so much! I can live! There’s a light at the end of the tunnel! I have a way out!  
None too soon either, as we had just come within sight of the crumbling remains of the watcher tower.   
“Spread out and watch each other's backs.” Irileth called. “It might not be gone.”  
The company split up into smaller groups as we began to look around.   
Mr. Rogers put his nose to the ground and started sniffing around. Don’t ask me how a ghost dog can smell. The only answer I have is magical shenanigans.  
Mr. Rogers sniffed around a little more, then looked towards a piece of collapsed tower and barked. I ran over to find a still living guard bleeding out under a large piece of stone. The man tried to talk but I ignored him in favor of pulling the spear out and casting three heals.  
“No!” He cried when he could talk once more. “It’s using us as bait! It’s still here!”  
The entire company pulled their weapons up and began frantically searching for the beast. Mr. Rogers started sniffing around the area again. He pauses, looking at another piece of debris and growling. Something wasn’t quite right about it. It seemed translucent, but not, so I took a closer look and activated observe

MIRMULNIR  
Allegiance. Strong. Hunt.  
Level- ???  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thought about you- ???

Huh, my first question marked opponent. I should really commemorate this day by living to the end of it.  
The wise ass blended in with the broken tower to get the jump on us. I yelled, “It’s here!” and covered him in liquid lightning to act as a beacon to my allies.  
Everyone looked over as the lightning fell. Once it impacted the now visible stone colored dragon, he let out an earth shaking roar as he stood to his full height. Time to run.  
I cast Godspeed, causing my hair to turn from ash in color to a bone white as lightning danced across my skin. I grabbed the guard that I just healed and ran.  
Mirmulnir opened his maw and let loose a torrent of fire in the place I was just standing.   
Having got over the shock, most of the warriors we brought with us began to rain arrows down on the dragon. Most clinked against his scales and harmlessly bounced off, but there were a few that found a weak point and slid into the dragon’s hide. Not that they did much damage. They might as well have been pine needles for all the good they did.  
I let the guard go once we were out of the danger area, then ran over to Svarline. She jumped when I suddenly appeared next to her. She relaxed a little when she saw it was me and I spoke. “My lightning won’t get through his scales. I need you to transmute one of the arrows stuck in him into copper. The bolts will be able to completely bypass his scales that way.”   
She looks confused for a moment before saying, “Ok, but I need to wait for him to be closer.”  
“Ok, just do it as soon as you find an opportunity.” I started moving to a place Mr. Rogers was indicating and found another downed guard. He looked like he got caught in the fire earlier. I heal him twice so he is able to move, then I kept going.   
I looked up to see the dragon flying in circles around us as he played with his food. All of the lightning from my spell had fallen free of him at this point.  
I’m glad this guy is arrogant as all hell or we would be pushing up daisies right now.   
We need a way to ground him. If he stays in the sky we’re done for. If I could get some chain lightning inside his wing, then it might at least drop him if not cripple him. I look around the battlefield until I spot Aela letting loose arrow after arrow. I deactivate godspeed and run up to her.  
“Aela!” she turns at my call. “I need you to put an arrow about halfway down one of his wings. It needs to be deep.”   
She regards me for a moment before nodding. “I’ll get it done.”  
I run back over to Svarline and say, “Aela is going to put an arrow in his wing. Change that one into copper as soon as you can!” She nods and I move on.  
I look out over the battlefield and see devastation. I’ve never seen a man burn to death before, it isn’t a pretty sight. I probably would’ve lost my lunch if I didn’t have Gamer’s Mind. I move around healing anyone who has a chance to live while waiting for my chance to strike.  
“Got it!” I hear Aela call, and look up to see half an arrow sticking out of the dragon’s left wing.  
“Svarline!” I call.  
“I know!” She shouts back. “Be ready the next time he passes over!”  
I stop healing people to regenerate a small amount of mana and wait for Svarline’s spell.  
Mirmulnir sweeps overhead once more prewing his fire into a group of Companions and I see Svarline cast her spell. “Now!” she yells.  
Not needing any more prompting, I reach out and send some chain lightning in the direction of the changed arrow. I don’t need to be precise, just close, because I’ve successfully turned the dragon’s wing into a lightning rod.  
The bolt hits the copper arrow and the wing seizes up. Without any ground to get rid of the charge, Mirmulnir is left spasming in the air as he begins to fall. He comes crashing down hard, unable to counteract the effect.  
“Now men!” comes the voice of Irileth as she leads the charge towards the downed dragon.  
Mirmulnir goes to prop himself up and take flight but I hit the arrow with another spell, locking it back down. He lets out a howl of pain which is quickly cut off as Irileth unleashes a torrent of frost magic directly down his throat. Vilkas and Farkas move as one and batter the dragon’s right wing after seeing his left effectively out of action.  
I focus on making sure he can’t use his left wing as the assembled warriors fall upon the downed beast.   
Mirmulnir tries to burn everything near him with his fire but Irileth counters a large portion of the effect with her frost magic. I see two arrows embed themself in both of his eyes at the same time and he howls once more. Aela and Svarline keep hitting him in vulnerable places with their arrows while all the melee fighters seek out any chinks in his armor.  
We have him grounded, we’ve cut off most of his avenues of attack, but he just won’t die. He is simply too tough.  
I come up with an idea, but dismiss it as too risky and keep firing bolts into the copper arrow.  
Mirmulnir uses his tail and catches two guards and a companion in one swing. They’re all sent flying like rag dolls, and end up in an unmoving heap.  
Screw it. This isn’t working.  
I send one final bolt into the arrow to give myself an opening and reactivate godspeed.   
The thing that makes the chidori so effective is the speed it’s practitioners possess. Able to take advantage of any opening. Along with their eyes that allow them to see attacks coming before they happen, to create new openings. Now, I’m nowhere near as fast as Kikashi, but I’m cheating with magic. My eyes might not be able to predict minute movements, but my target is a freaking dragon. I won’t miss.  
As fast as a lightning bolt I appear under Mirmulnir’s throat and cast a Chidori in either hand. I then thrust both arms up into his long neck.  
Mirmulnir lets out a wail of agony as my hands slide through his scales and keep going.  
He delivers an off balance kick to my stomach in a desperate attempt to get me away from him and I’m sent flying.

-327 HP

He took out over 3/4ths of my HP with one hit. It wasn’t even a solid hit! He sissy slapped me, and it almost killed me! No wonder we’re dropping like flies.   
I look up from my place in the dirt to see Mirmulnir with two gaping holes in his throat. He desperately tries to take to the air once more.  
I cast another lightning bolt as I stand that keeps him grounded. Prompting a growl of frustration from the beast.  
He looks towards me, and gets ready to shout at me.  
I prepare to dash away, but it’s unneeded.  
As he exhales an axe embeds itself where my right hand was, and a greatsword finds the gap left by my left hand.  
Shout abandoned, Mirmulnir goes to bite at the two Companions when he is stopped cold by two more arrows.  
Irileth follows the attack up by unleashing frost magic into the dragon’s feet. Freezing the ground and making movement next to impossible.   
Mirmulnir looks scared. He looks mortal.  
What guards and companions remain all collapse onto the dragon to hopefully end it with one last charge.  
Vilkas and Farkas dig and twist their weapons. Tearing as much of the dragon’s flesh as they possibly can.  
Irileth and I take away his mobility by crippling his flight, and destroying any traction he can find on the ground.  
Aela and Svarline cover everyone by making sure an arrow always blocks any attack the dragon could make with his maw.  
The rest of the warriors we brought with us hack and slash any place that bleeds to increase the flow of red.  
The dragon’s movements grow slower, and slower. He tries to break free once more, only to find a guard’s warhammer knocking him back into the death trap.  
He weakly tries once more to fly, but a combination of my spell and Farkas’s axe bring him back down.  
Vilkas takes the opening to thrust his sword as far as he can into the gap he has been hacking at. The remaining scales give way beneath the blade, and Vilkas sinks it in all the way to the hilt.  
The dragon goes still. Then slowly starts to fall.  
I see a blast of hot air escaping his snout, showing he is still alive.  
“I am immortal.” Mirmulnir weakly exhales. “You will never truly kill me.”   
He begins to dryly chuckle as we all move in for the kill.  
An arrow disappears into the gap left by Farkas’s axe and the dragon's eyes shoot wide open and fixate on Svarline.  
“Dovahkiin?!” he cries in alarm. “Noooooo!”  
He uses the last of his strength to unleash his fire in Svarline and Aela’s direction, but it is once more diverted by Irileth’s frost. Igniting the area around them in flame, but leaving the both of them unharmed.  
“Nooooooo!” The dragon lets loose one last cry as his skin starts to smolder apart and flake off of him. He collapses as his flesh flies away leaving nought but a large skeleton behind.  
“Back away now!” Farkas yells, as he and any others close to the skeletal form dive away from the floating ashes.  
“What is this?!” Irileth cries as the particles surge towards Svarline.  
“Help!” She cries as she tries to swat the now translucent ash away. “Stop it!” The beams of yellow energy seep into her skin and she glows a brilliant gold as the soul is absorbed.  
The glow dissipates and Svarline is left standing unharmed with wide eyes.  
Everyone uneasily looks towards Svarline. Unsure if the danger has passed.  
“What in Oblivion just happened to her?” Irileth shouts at me.  
“Don’t look at me! I’ve never seen a dragon die before.” I say, technically truthfully, as I begin to heal my hit points back.  
“Do you feel ok?” I ask Svarline as she stares down at her hands.  
She looks up at me, then back down to her hands. “I feel….. I feel powerful.”  
“You’re dragonborn.” We all turn to see one guard staring open mouthed at Svarline.  
“Dragonwhat?!” Irileth asks.  
The guard looks to Irileth before looking back to Svarline. “She is dragonborn.”  
More of the warriors begin to look at Svarline in a new light.  
“What in Oblivion is a dragonborn?!” Irileth cries. Still uneasy, and wondering if the fight is truly over.  
“A warrior with the soul of a dragon.” Aela answers as she studies Svarline. “Said to be able to steal the souls of dragons she slays. Taking their power for her own.”  
Irileth begins to relax as she looks towards Svarline as well. “And she’s this dragonborn?” she asks the group.  
“We can’t be sure.” Vilkas responds. “The dragonborn is said to be able to use the language of dragons to produce a thu’um. Can you shout?” he asks of Svarline.  
“I…. I don't know. I…” she looks up from her hands and gets a faraway look in her eyes. She looks up to the sky and shouts out, “FEIM!”  
Her body turns into a ghostly version of itself, not unlike Mr. Rogers’s form.   
Huh, guess she wouldn’t have unrelenting force without Bleakfalls Barrow, but where did she get Become Ethereal from? Questions for later.  
After a few seconds where everyone stares at the ghostly woman. The shout expires and Svarline returns to normal.  
“I’d say that proves it.” Farkas says, breaking the silence.  
We lapse into silence once more as everyone takes in the damage around them, the corpses of their comrades, and the skeletal remains of the dead dragon.

Quest Completed!  
[Slay the Dragon!]  
A dragon has destroyed the Northern Watchtower and could move towards the city. Kill it before it has the chance!  
Objective- Slay the Dragon(Completed)  
Bonus Objective- Slay the Dragon without more then 40 defenders dying(Failed)  
Bonus Objective- Slay the Dragon without more than 20 defenders dying(Failed)  
Bonus Objective- Ensure the dragonborn lands the final blow(Completed)  
Rewards- 3 Gacha coins  
Bonus Rewards- 2 Gacha coins, Portable Alchemy Lab

Portable Alchemy Lab  
This Alchemy kit can be kept in your inventory at all times, and is fully stocked with the equipment needed to make potions. It also has an extra dimensional space you can use to grow ingredients but it doesn’t start with anything grown. You must collect ingrediants on your own.

Level Up x32  
For killing an enemy over 100 level higher than you, you level up an additional 5 times!  
Gain +260 Stat Points

Dusk  
Level- 52  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 52/100 [93%]  
Crafting Class- Alchemist LVL48/50 [77%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 1950 [260 per minute]  
MP- 6160 [616 per minute]  
SP- 1950 [260 per minute]  
STR- 125  
END- 130  
DEX - 128  
INT - 308  
WIS - 308  
CHA - 125  
LUK - 130  
MP Regen= WIS x 2  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 15

For Reaching Level 50 in the Electromancer class, you have unlocked higher tiered lightning magic!

Lightning Form  
Costs 200 MP  
Turn yourself into living energy, halving damage from all sources.  
Any equipment you are wearing or holding changes with you. Cannot change other creatures  
You may pass through objects in this form so long as there is space to move through(An iron gate can be passed, but a solid stone wall cannot)  
Any enemy who comes into contact with your form takes INT x 2 Electrical Damage

Electric Sphere  
Costs 100 MP per 5 meter radius  
Create a custom sized sphere of lightning with various effects.   
Can be used as a prison, grenade, etc.   
When the sphere comes into contact with a target, the target takes INT + 75 Electrical Damage and is forced back in the direction they came from. Stronger opponents can resist this effect

Lightning Teleport  
Costs 100 MP  
Fire a lightning bolt and teleport to the location where the bolt hits  
Cannot bring any other creatures with you

Call Thunder  
Costs 200 MP  
Call a bolt of lightning from the sky to devastate all nearby targets  
Must be cast with clear view of the sky  
Bolt deals INT x 3 lightning damage to all targets within a 5 meter radius

Electric Weapon  
Costs 150 MP  
Create a weapon made of pure energy with which to wield against your enemies  
Weapon deals INT + 25 lightning damage and STR + 30 Slashing or Piercing damage

For reaching 100 STR you gain a perk!  
Unflinching  
Attacks that would normally stagger and disrupt you can be withstood

For reaching 100 END you gain a perk!  
Tough  
HP and SP now equal END x 15

For reaching 100 DEX you gain a perk!  
Agile  
You can jump twice as high, three times as far, and move twice as quick

For reaching 100 INT you have gained a perk!  
Multitasking  
You are able to follow two trains of thought simultaneously with no drawbacks

For reaching 200 INT you have gained a perk!  
Research assistant  
Any task that requires research(alchemy, spell creation, enchanting, etc.) has its research time halved

For Reaching 300 INT you gain a perk!  
Studious  
You have learned a lot about the world, and have become an excellent learner.  
All EXP gain increased by 15%

For reaching 100 WIS you have gained a perk!  
Mana Battery  
You regain your mana twice as fast(MP regen=WIS x4)

For reaching 200 Wis you have gained a perk!  
Meditation  
You can enter a meditative trance.   
While in a trance, all curses, poisons, venoms, and spirit injuries are healed/removed over the course of 5 hours  
Can be used as an alternative for sleep

For Reaching 300 WIS you gain a perk!  
Knowledgeable  
You’ve been around the block before and have the experience to prove it  
Once per week, may gain insider information on a specific area or creature.

For reaching 100 CHA you have gained a perk!  
Businessman  
You are 50% more likely to get a better deal when you barter

For reaching 100 LUC you have gained a perk!  
Felix Felicis  
Once a week for 1 hour you will become extremely lucky

Dusk  
Level- 52  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 52/100 [93%]  
Crafting Class- Alchemist LVL48/50 [77%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 1950 [260 per minute]  
MP- 6160 [1232 per minute]  
SP- 1950 [260 per minute]  
STR- 125  
END- 130  
DEX - 128  
INT - 308  
WIS - 308  
CHA - 125  
LUK - 130  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 15

That was a ridiculous number of pop-ups. I guess I did just help to kill a dragon. Svarline got the final hit? Huh, wonder how she’s looking?

Svarline The Dragonborn of Legend  
The Last Dragonborn  
Level- 64  
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)  
HP- 2940  
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)  
New Ability discovered!- Soul Devouring(When absorbing a dragon soul, if the dragonborn dealt the killing blow, the dragonborn steals more than the dragon's knowledge. Siphoning the dead beasts strength and power for their own. Can be used to obtain a number of benefits.)  
Thoughts about you- You are her friend. The two of you have been through hell together. You are an equal

Ya, she got a pretty huge boost too. New ability too. That is broken if there's no ceiling on it. Especially if she goes through the main quest and killa Alduin. Name and title change too? Does that have something to do with the new ability? I’ll figure it out later.  
Looking away from my considerably better stats, as well as Svarline’s new changes, I look at the bodies littering the field. We lost over half of the number we set out with. Most of them were taken by the fire while Mirmulnir was still airborne, but a not insignificant portion was also killed while he was grounded.  
Looking around at the other survivors, I see the Companions celebrating the kill, while the guards mourn their dead. Different lifestyles I suppose. Looking over at Svarline, I see her clenching and unclenching her fists. She has a large grin on her face as she tests her new strength. She almost looks high.  
She looks up and spots me. Her smile grows even wider as we make eye contact. She walks over to me and says, “We just killed a dragon! I just stole a dragon’s power! I feel so much stronger now!” Her smile now borders on manic as she looks at me.  
I smile back at her. “Ya, we just brought down a damned dragon!” Because we just brought down a goddamn dragon. I’m allowed to be happy about that fact.  
She looked to the corpse then back to me. “What was that thing you did to his chest? We wouldn’t have been able to kill him without it.”  
I hold up my hand and cast a chidori. “New spell, it grinds down and cuts through whatever it touches at a very high rate.”  
She looks at the chidori for a moment before meeting my eyes again. “When did you learn this if it’s new?”  
Ummm, how do I answer this question without saying anything about the Gamer?   
Svarline continued to look at me expectantly.  
Half-truth it is.  
“I get stronger when I overcome great danger.” I say, “I got this after we made it to Whiterun.”  
She stopped to think for a moment. “We just killed a dragon. I can’t think of anything more dangerous than that. Did you get anything from it?” She asks looking back up at me.  
I would really prefer to keep as much of this as close to the chest as I can, but she’s the damn dragonborn. If there is any ally I want, it’s her. “Ya, I got quite a bit from him actually. I’d prefer not to demonstrate in front of an audience though.”  
Her expression immediately grows guarded as she looks down to her fist again. She looks back up and nods. “We’ll talk later.” she says.  
Moving back to the group, we see all the bodies have been gathered together, and the survivors are preparing to return to the city.  
Irileth sees us approaching and walks towards us. “My men tell me the two of you kept them alive during the fighting. Thank you for that, and for what you did to the beast itself. I doubt this would have gone as well as it did without you here.” She looked over to the pile of corpses, then back to us. “I just wish the cost wasn’t so high.”  
This is the first time I’ve seen her official demeanor crack, and it helps to drive home the fact that the NPCs are actually people now.  
“I’m sorry we lost so many.” I console her.  
“Me too.” She turns back to the remaining warriors. “Alright, time to head home. The sun’s all but gone, and I want to be behind walls before night sets in.”  
I go to follow the group when I realize we’re missing someone.   
Where’s my dog?  
I look around but can’t find him.  
“Mr. Rogers?” I call out.  
*Woof!*   
I look towards the sound and find Mr. Rogers with a dragon femur in his mouth. He wags his tail at me as he tries to drag the oar sized bone over.   
He is best boy.  
Seeing the group walking around the hill I move over to Mr. Rogers and quickly inventory the massive bone. “I’ll pull it out for you later.”  
He wags his tail and pants as we both run to catch up.  
We make it back to the group and Svarline smiles when she sees Mr. Rogers. “I’m glad he’s ok. I would have been furious if he’d been hurt.”  
I give her a deadpan stare. “He’s a ghost dog. That doesn’t work.”  
She tilts her head, “Really? Huh, you wouldn’t be able to tell if you weren’t looking. He’s a dead ringer for the real thing.”  
I continued my stare. “That one was somehow magnitudes worse.”  
“That’s how you know it’s good! When everyone else hates it!” she says enthusiastically.  
“To think you killed a dragon not ten minutes ago.” I sigh.  
She smiles and goes to respond, but is interrupted by a thundering sound that seems to emanate from everywhere at once.  
“DO-VAH-KIIN!!!!!”  
Oh, I forgot about those guys.


	4. 4

The group halts for a moment as the shout comes to an end. Everyone looks to Svarline once more, and the group falls silent.  
“Well, if there was still any doubt, I think that just verified what our friend here is.” Vilkas says, breaking the silence.  
Irileth looks towards the sun before speaking. “We’ll figure out what this means later. We need to get back to the city now.”  
Everyone starts double timing it back towards Whiterun.  
The sun had already set by the time we reached the gate, but other than that we had no difficulties.  
We are let in as soon as we’re seen, and are met by what I assume to be every healer in the city. Arcadia and those with her are handing out potions to everyone who has taken only minor injuries, while the restoration mages from the temple prioritize anyone who was wounded more heavily.  
“Come on.” Irileth says to Svarline and myself. “We need to tell the Jarl what has happened.  
The three of us move past the healers and are joined by Vilkas and a few of the more heavily armored guards. We walk through the city passing around a hundred people who all look upon us in awe. Many of them say thank yous, and well dones, as we pass them.  
We come to the stairs leading to Dragonsreach and begin our ascent. The door is already open for us when we reach the apex. Allowing us to continue inside.  
Where before the keep was filled with squabbling nobles and yes-men, it is now almost empty. The only figures being the black haired nord in long black wizard’s robes, the blonde woman who was with him before, the Jarl himself, and the Jarl’s brother. The four of them are standing around a small table with a small stone upon its surface.

Delphine  
Last Hope of the Blades  
Level- 72  
Race- Breton  
HP- 2780  
Thoughts about you- You just killed a dragon

Farengar  
Court Wizard of Whiterun  
Level- 67  
Race- Nord  
HP- 375  
Thoughts about you- You just killed a dragon

Jarl Balgruuf  
Jarl of Whiterun  
Level- 54  
Race- Nord  
HP- 450  
Thoughts about you- Gratitude for killing the dragon that threatened his lands

Hrongar  
Jarl’s Right Hand  
Level- 59  
HP- 550  
Thoughts about you- You just killed a dragon

The Dragonstone  
A stone with a comprehensive map of dragon burial sites carved into its surface

The quartet notices our approach and their conversation stops.  
Balgruuf moves forward to meet Irileth and speaks. “Our lookouts saw the beast fall, but we couldn’t see what was happening on the ground. If you’re back… Does this mean the beast is dead?”  
“Yes my Jarl.” Irileth answers. “The dragon is dead.”  
Balgruuf lets out a sigh of relief, before adopting a saddened expression. “What of our men? How many fell?”  
“Of the 84 warriors who volunteered, only 27 are still alive. What wounded we had are being treated by the healers, but the dragon’s attacks killed more often then they maimed.” Irileth responds in a more somber tone.  
Balgruuf sits in a nearby chair to process the information.   
Delphine steps into the space he occupied. “How did the dragon die? What happened after? Do you know who the Greybeards were calling to?”  
Before anyone can answer Balgruuf interrupts while looking at nothing. “Later Delphine. They just slew a true dragon. Allow them to rest, celebrate, and mourn before you assault them with questions.”  
Delphine looks like she wants to argue, but after seeing the look on Balgruuf’s face she relents. Saying, “If whoever is able would tell me of the battle when you are ready I would appreciate it.” Before she collects a rubbing from the table and exits the castle.  
Vilkas looks towards Svarline and I and says, “The two of may consider yourselves welcome within Jorrvaskr. There will undoubtedly be a celebration of this victory in the coming days. It would be our honor to host you.” He turns to Irileth and gives a nod, before he leaves as well.  
Seeing Balgruuf as the complete opposite of who he was earlier, I decide it’s time to go. “I am going to find lodgings for the night. I will return here in the morning to discuss the battle.”   
Irileth looks back to the two of us. “Good, get some rest. You’ve both earned it. Thank you again for what you’ve done. Go to the Bannered Mare. You won’t be charged.”  
Svarline thanks her and the two of us walk out.  
“Any idea where The Bannered Mare is?” I ask her.  
“We can just ask for directions.” She says as she starts walking.  
I shrug and follow.  
We wander for a bit before we get directions from an older woman and head towards the inn.   
We walk through the doors to find the place bereft of patronage. Guess dragon attacks make it hard to want to party.  
The only person we see is a reddish-brown haired nord woman sitting behind the counter with a bottle of mead in her hand. She sees us come in and stands up. Putting the bottle on the counter in front of her.  
“You’re those two travellers who went and fought the lizard aren’t you?” She says as she looks us over.  
“Yes.” Svarline answers. “We were hoping to acquire lodging for the night.”  
The woman reaches under the counter and hands a key across to Svarline. “On the house. First door on the right when you get upstairs. You can have it for a whole month if you want. I didn’t get a chance to cook anything tonight, for obvious reasons, but there’s some fruit in that barrel there.” She indicates the barrel before grabbing her bottle and marching up the stairs.  
Svarline moves to the barrel and pulls three apples out. She tosses one to me then heads upstairs.  
Finding myself alone in the tavern I take a seat in the corner and start eating my apple.  
Dragon down. Yay!  
Super powerful new spells. Yay!  
Things are looking pretty good right now. Still trying to get over the fact I haven’t even been here for 48 hours though. If this is how things are going to be all the time I’m going to lose it.  
Anyway, I made it to Whiterun and got a huge power boost. Not a bad day. What now?  
I really don’t want to go meet the Greybeards. They’re cool and all, but they have literally nothing to offer me. Which means I’m probably going to be traveling alone for awhile. Luckily, thanks to the insane EXP from Mirmulnir, I’m strong enough to live on my own, and even if I come across something I can’t fight, I have plenty of options I can use to run away. So where am I going?  
Winterhold remains the foremost option in my mind. I would benefit the most from going there. I could get weaker spells from other disciplines, start using my alchemist class, and maybe manipulate my way into becoming archmage. On second thought, I don’t want the responsibility. Too many people would expect too much of me. Which would really limit what I’m able to do on my own.  
Regardless, I should probably stay here for at least a week and grind using ID create. I’ve still got amazing EXP gain, so I should use it.  
Oh! I got more Gacha coins, and a new perk which will let me get good stuff!  
I activate my felix felicis effect for the week and start using my coins.

-1 Gacha Coin  
Item Added  
Pet Rock  
This pet rock comes with a travel box and some loose straw, which can be used to make your new rock a bed

…..  
…..  
…..  
*INHALE*   
…..  
…..  
…..  
*EXHALE*  
…..  
…..  
…..

This is fine. This is ok. No reason to react. No reason to commit glorious slaughter. No blood for the blood gods here. No sir.  
Just use the next coin.

-1 Gacha Coin  
Item Added  
The Lost Treasure of the Flor de la Mar  
The lost treasure looted from the Sultan of Malacca. The treasure was lost at sea when the Flor de la Mar came upon a storm while transporting it and was shipwrecked

All is forgiven! All is very much forgiven! Oh my god is everything forgiven!  
Literal shipwrecked treasure! I can’t even begin to guess what this is all worth. It might be a little hard to use this in Skyrim because the coins aren’t stamped correctly, and the other baubles have never been seen before, but I will most definitely take it.  
Next!

-1 Gacha Coin  
Item Added  
Yamato  
Legendary Weapon  
A sword once wielded by the demon Sparda before he left it to his son Vergil  
Yamato can cut through dimensions  
Deals STR + 20 Dimensional Damage per hit  
This sword can cut through anything, and can cut at a distance. Stronger opponents will not be cut instantly.

I think I’m in love.  
Getting a swordsman class just became my number one priority. This thing is absolutely amazing! Heck, I think I remember something about this being used to split Hell from Earth. This thing can cut through worlds.  
I’ve got two more coins left. Keep the winners coming!

-1 Gacha Coin  
Ascalon  
Mythic Weapon  
The sword Saint George used to slay the dragon  
Deals STR + 10 Holy Damage per hit  
Dragons take an additional WIS + 15 Holy Damage per hit, additionally, while the wielder is fighting a dragon their stats are all multiplied by ten for as long as the battle lasts

Felix felicis I love you so so much. I might actually be able to put up a fight in this world now! I can survive dragon encounters and actually fight back!  
Hit me again!

-1 Gacha Coin  
Item Added  
Commodore 64 Controller  
Use this to play your favorite games on the Commodore 64  
Note: Does not include Commodore 64

Definitely irritating, but I refuse to complain too much. I have the freaking Yamato now. It should say something that out of the three good things I got, the sunken treasure is by far the least interesting. I need a class that can use swords effectively as soon as is physically possible. I am abusing ID create the entire time I’m here.  
“Hey.” A voice calls from the stairs. “Are you just going to sit there all night?” Svarline asks as she walks over.  
She has taken off the piecemeal armor she got from Helgen. Instead wearing a simple shirt and pants.  
“What’s up?” she asks as she takes a seat.  
“Nothing. Just thinking.” I reply.  
She leans in a little. “What about?”  
“What to do next.” I respond honestly.  
“Decided on anything?”  
“Nothing too substantial. I’m probably going to stay in the city for a while before heading up to Winterhold. I still need to get to the college after all.” I say. “What about you?”  
She adopts a confused expression. “What do you mean?”  
“I mean what are you going to do from here? Are you going to head up to High Hrothgar?”  
“What?” she says even more confused.  
“The Greybeards.” I say. Becoming a little confused myself. “They summoned you.”  
Svarline looks truly lost. “Who are the greybeards and when did they summon me?”  
Huh?  
Oooh, she doesn’t have metaknowledge. I really need to be better about assuming everything will happen a predetermined way.  
“The Greybeards are a group of men who live near the top of the Throat of the World.” I explain. “That shout we heard on our way back from killing the dragon? That was them calling you to them. Dovahkiin is the dragon tongue for dragonborn.”  
She considers this for a moment. “Why should I care that they summoned me? And how do you know the dragon language? I thought that was just me.”  
“To answer in reverse order, anyone can learn the dragon language. The rest of us are just laughably inept at it. You are special in that learning a shout takes all of 5 seconds, and you can steal power from dragons. Others can learn shouts through meditation and study but it takes years to get where you got in a day. To the first question, the Greybeards are hailed throughout Tamriel as undisputed masters of the thu’um. They isolate themselves from the rest of us and spend their entire lives training their shouts. They would be able to show you how to use your power better than anyone.”  
Seemingly taken aback by my rant, Svarline takes a moment then asks, “How do you know all this?”  
I shrugged. “I’m well read. Skyrim in particular interested me, so I spent a lot of time learning about it.” 100% honesty for the win.  
Svarline processes this for a moment before frowning. “So just anyone can learn to shout? What’s so special about being dragonborn then?”  
How to answer without saying things I shouldn’t know… “Well for starters you are now the only living being who can steal a dragon’s soul. Letting you steal their power. If the legends are to be believed, with each dragon you slay, you become even more powerful. Until almost nothing will be able to stand in your path. Secondly, the only others I know of who can shout are the Greybeards. Supposedly the Jarl of Windhelm can as well, but I think he can only use one. You can learn the dragon’s magic simply by reading their words if the legends are right.”  
She perks up at my last sentence. “Wait, dragon’s magic? Explain that.”  
Uh, is this common knowledge? Too late now.  
“Going by the legends again, so don’t quote me on this because it could be exaggeration or outright wrong, the thu’um is the ancient magic of dragons. Their language has a certain power to it. Their ability to breath fire isn’t biological. Supposedly it’s their language. I guess you could say two dragons fighting are just having a very heated argument.”  
Svarline’s eyes light up. “So I’m absorbing their magic from them every time I kill them.”  
I nod. “According to the legends? Yes. Keep in mind though, you have to actually kill the dragon to steal its power, and as we learned today, that is no small feat.”  
She shakes her head and replies, “Yes, but the more I kill the easier it will be to kill more right? So I need to get stronger in order to take full advantage of this.” She has a wide smile on her face.  
This can’t be good for Nirn. The dragonborn is as power hungry as I am.  
“Theoretically yes, but again, I got all of this from random books that may or may not be accurate.” I say.  
She just shakes her head again. “You’re right.” She says with certainty. “When I killed that thing, I felt almost drunk on power, and I felt myself get stronger. That drunk feeling went away, but the strength didn’t. I stole his strength. Just now, upstairs, I was able to change a cup into gold in 10 minutes. Before that would have taken me an hour at least.” She looks at me. “I need to kill more of those beasts.”  
Wow am I unprepared for this conversation. “Going back to my original question. What are you going to do now?” I ask.  
Svarline becomes confused once more. “I thought you said we were going to Winterhold?”  
What?  
“Ya. I’m planning to go to Winterhold, but what about you? Wouldn’t you want to learn shouts from the Greybeards?”  
She shakes her head. “Why would I need to? I’ve never seen or heard a shout before today, and I can already turn into a ghost. What can a bunch of hermits who learn in years what takes me moments possibly teach me?”  
I go to respond but stop myself. Thinking about it, the Greybeards were actually kind of useless. I only ever really went to them immediately on my first few playthroughs. After that, I only went through it when I wanted to do the main questline. Even then I speed runned it and skipped all the dialogue. The only shout you need them for is Clear Skies, and a one word each for Unrelenting Force and Whirlwind Sprint. Fire breath too when you get to Paarthurnax.  
Wait what did she say?  
“Wait, Svarline? You said you’ve never seen or heard a shout before right? Have you ever seen or heard any words in the dragon language before today?”  
She shakes her head. “Nope. Pulled it right out of the dragon’s head.”  
Ok then.   
That is so broken.  
The Greybeards just became completely useless.   
“Huh. Anyway, what are your plans going forward if you’re not going to High Hrothgar?”  
She looks like she’s starting to get irritated. “You already said we were going to Winterhold. Why are you asking me?”  
What 2.0?  
Uh… Observe?

Svarline The Dragonborn of Legend  
The Last Dragonborn  
Level- 64  
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)  
HP- 2940  
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)  
\- Soul Devouring(When absorbing a dragon soul, if the dragonborn dealt the killing blow, the dragonborn steals more than the dragon's knowledge. Siphoning the dead beasts strength and power for their own. Can be used to obtain a number of benefits.)  
Thoughts about you- You are her friend. You are her partner. You are an equal. You’re asking obvious questions.

Obvious questions? Just because I’m going somewhere doesn’t mean... Oooh. She wants to go with me. Wow I feel stupid now.   
In other news, we ask what is with this woman’s opinion of me? The two of us literally met yesterday. I guess if it means I have the dragonborn watching my back I shouldn’t complain too much.  
Looking back to her I say, “Eh, forget it. I was thinking we should stay here for about a week before heading out. Is that alright with you?”  
She shrugged. “That’s fine. We don’t need to get there tomorrow.”  
“Cool.” I throw my apple core into a bucket with some other garbage and move to stand when Svarline stops me.  
“Wait.” she says and I sit back down. “That new spell you got? You said you would explain more when we were alone.”  
I was really hoping she had forgotten about that. “I did, what do you want to know?”  
“You said you get stronger when you overcome danger? How does that work, and what does it make you?”  
“I can honestly say I have no idea how it works. Just that it does.” Because I have absolutely no idea how the Gamer ability is able to function. “As for what I am, I haven’t been able to find anything recorded about people with similar abilities, so I think I’m unique.” Good luck finding anything in Tamriel about the Gamer.  
Svarline thought for a moment. “So you’re like me?” She says, “You and I both get stronger faster than anyone else can, and one day no one will be able to match us.”  
I thought about it for a moment. “I guess so. Except I don’t need to eat literal dragons so my way is safer and likely more efficient. You probably get much more value out of a single kill than I do though.”  
Svarline smiled and stood up. “Well, I’m tired. We should get to bed if we want to get up in thyme for that celebration in Jorrvaskr.”  
I nodded and stood up, pausing when I noticed her shit-eating grin. I ran what she said back through my head and groaned. They do have thyme here don’t they? Pretty sure I remember it from ESO.  
Svarline laughed and started upstairs.  
I grumble for a moment before standing and following her upstairs.  
I follow Hulda’s directions and suddenly realize she only gave us one key. Oh well, there’s probably two beds. Stopping at the threshold of the room, I look through the open door to see a single large bed which Svarline is already laying on.  
Oh well, not that big of a deal. We’re travelling companions, and Skyrim is far less developed than back home. This is probably commonplace.  
I pull my more uncomfortable clothes off and lay down on the other side of the bed in a plain shirt and pants.  
“Goodnight.” I say as I close my eyes.  
“G’night.” she mumbles back, and I feel an arm wrap around me.  
Eh, this is probably normal. We are in Skyrim after all. Sharing body heat is just common sense when living in a frigid environment.   
She is pretty warm. It’s actually really nice….   
Killing that train of thought until it dies a very gruesome very excessive death, I run through a mental list of all the things I can do to improve my level grinding tomorrow. I then close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

(Interlude: A Dragon)

Sitting atop a mountain to the far east, a dragon used it’s perceptive eyes to peer down at an amusing sight. The mortals had seen the massive beast of midnight scales flying to the south of their city, and had been in a panic ever since. They were running this way and that, lighting fires, shoring defenses. It wouldn’t matter if the dragon chose to strike.  
Luckily for those fools who reside in the shadow of the mountain, they were not the great creature’s target.   
The dragon turned its head to look upon a small dwelling made from wood and straw, and bared its teeth.  
The dragon lept from its perch and began a lazy descent towards the small building to the west.   
The mortals scream and flee the moment they see the dragon flying once more, prompting the great behemoth to chuckle. As this is only natural for the little fleas.  
A short trip across the winds and the dragon is close enough to the tiny little building to hear the manic cries of the mortals within.  
“Run to the Jarl!” a particularly high pitched voice cried. “We need aid now!”  
The dragon watched as a small male ran as fast as his tiny legs could carry him away from the dragon’s destination. The dragon made no move to stop him.  
The dragon knew its target was here, but it did not know its precise location. So, the dragon began flying over the area in ever widening circles in an effort to find that which it sought.  
The mortals continued their screaming and running and praying. The dragon would only set them alight when their wails grew potent enough to distract it from its search. Those who kept their terror quiet, were left unbothered. After all, what was the point of destroying them now when all would be devoured in the end?  
Beginning its fifth circle, the dragon finally spotted that which it sought. A large circle of assorted stones which created a barrier between the dirt that lay on the outside, and the sacred soil within.  
The dragon allowed itself a small smile as it flew down to the holy gravesite.   
Hovering over the circle of stones, using its great wings to hold it aloft, the dragon gathered its power into itself. This feat always left the dragon weak and vulnerable, but it was a weakness the dragon was willing to bear if it meant more of the dragon’s brothers and sisters would roam the skies once more.  
The dragon released its power and a pillar of spiritually imbued blue-green light rose from the grave of the fallen dragon.  
The great black dragon took flight once more. Flying around its rising sibling while it gathered its power to conclude the great ritual.  
The mortals kept on with their screaming, their cries to the gods, and their insane mumblings. All were inconsequential before the magnitude of what was occurring.  
The dragon once more came to a stop above the now glowing grave, and gathered its power once more.  
“Sahloknir.” The dragon spoke. “Ziil gro dovah ulse!” The dragon pushed its power forwards, channeling magic from its very soul. “SLEN! TIID! VO!” The dragon bellowed.  
The very ground shook with each syllable as the dragon unleashed a mighty spell which was absorbed into the faintly glowing grave.  
The grave erupted outwards as if an explosion had been set off inside, and a long skeletal wing grasped the edge of the rock-lined circle. The wing was closely followed by another, and then a large draconic skull rose to observe its surroundings.   
A fleshless draconic skeleton pulled itself from the pit, held together by nought but the great black dragon’s power, and stalked forward.  
The great black dragon looked upon its long dead brother and spoke once more. “Zu’u vokrii wah hi hin slen ahrk suleyk dii zeymah ful mu aal vokrii un vahzah golt ahst fin lok.”( I restore to you your flesh and power my brother so we may restore our rightful place in the sky.) A current of energy leapt from the airborne dragon to its skeletal brother, and the latter’s flesh slowly grew back. Ice colored scales and black horns restored themselves upon the newly revised dragon’s frame.  
“Kogaan thuri! Daar gein laan hin uth.”(Thank you lord this one requests your command) The grounded dragon calls up to its savior.  
The floating beast sneers. “Ofan fin joor fin faas nust lost vodahmin.”(give the mortals the fear they have forgotten)  
The ice scaled dragon grins and takes to the sky. He lets out his own ground shaking roar as he flies toward the city of stone.  
The mortals’ fear is thick in the air as the black dragon flies back to its perch to rest. The ritual was draining, but another of its siblings is free once more. Hopefully Sahloknir will not fail as Mirmulnir did.  
The dragon lands upon its perch and takes in a most amusing sight.  
The mortals all flee in terror as their great stone walls crumble around them. They attempt to fight back, but are torn down by flame and claw. Their great bastion, reduced to rubble and ash.  
The great dragon lets loose a soft laugh. The mortals tried to contain the dragon’s power by trapping it within time, but time’s hold could not long suffer Her.  
The mortals will do all they can to hold onto this pathetic world they have created, but Alduin, Firstborn Daughter of Akatosh will retake her rightful place as ruler of Nirn. And once she is done, she will devour all to bring about the next age.


	5. 5

[You have rested in a bed for 8 hours!]  
[HP, SP, and MP restored!]  
[EXP gain increased by 15% for the next 6hours!]

I open my eyes and look around me. There is a small amount of orangish light coming in through the window, meaning it’s probably early morning at the moment. I look to my right and see Svarline still wrapped around me. She is quietly breathing while she continues to sleep. I gently move out from under her arm, so as not to wake her, and stand up.  
I start getting my things together while going over what I need to get done today. I need to go back up to Dragonsreach for a debriefing if I don’t want to be hounded by authorities for my entire stay. I should probably make an appearance at Jorrvaskr for the celebration before politely excusing myself. Even if only to keep relations positive. Then I hop into IDs and grind my heart out.  
On second thought it might be smart to get some actual armor now that I’m as rich as the Jarl. Maybe even more so actually. Would also be a good idea to pester Farengar into selling me some spells. I should probably also head to Arcadia’s and buy her out of ingredients so I can finally start working on my alchemy.   
Wow I have a lot I need to do.  
With my gear gathered together, I leave the room and head downstairs. The place is empty of everyone, including Hulda. I move to the door and walk outside.  
Standing in the morning air, I’m reminded of a very important fact. I have no idea where anything is in this city.  
Sighing, I head back inside to wait for Hulda, so I can ask for directions to Belethor and Arcadia’s stores. I sit down after grabbing another apple out of the barrel and wait.  
I sit in a corner munching on my apple for a while before a groaning Hulda slowly descends the stairs.  
“You alright?” I ask, making her jump as she swings her head towards me. She recognizes me and relaxes. Letting out another groan as she grabs her head.  
“Fine.” she replies. “Drank too much last night.”  
She didn’t even look tipsy last night. How does she have a hangover?  
“I can try to help? I’ve never tried curing a hangover but I might be able to.”  
She looks me up and down before shrugging and collapsing into a chair. “Knock yourself out.”  
I walk over and grab her head, casting heal several times.  
Her eyes shoot open and she lets out a sigh. “Divines that felt good.” She looks up at me, “Any chance I could put you on retainer?”  
“Sorry.” I said. “I won’t be in town long enough.”  
“Damn, coulda made a fortune. Thanks.”  
“Say, would you be able to tell me where the Alchemist and General Goods store are located here?” I ask.  
She points to a small wooden box. “That's full of maps of the city. Travelers tend to ask where everything is so I can typically make some good money from them. Take one as thanks for the healing. That, and the whole dragon business yesterday.”  
“Thanks.” I say and retrieve a map.  
I’m halfway to the door when I hear another set of footsteps descending the stairs.  
I look back and see Svarline wearing her scavenged armor making her way over to the apple bin. She grabs an apple and turns to me. “Where are you off to?” she asks when she sees me close to the door.  
“Shopping.” I respond. “I need some alchemy ingredients, and I was also hoping to get some better armor. You want to come?”  
She nods and falls in behind me as we leave.  
“I don’t have much coin, and I know you don’t have much more than I do. So I don’t know how much we can afford.” She says as we walk through the mostly empty streets.  
Is extra dimensional storage a thing in Elder Scrolls? I don’t remember. Eh, she probably won’t go blabbing about what I can do.   
“Don’t worry. I had some things stored in a pocket plane when I was grabbed by the Imperials. If we go to the general store first I can sell them off.” I say.  
Svarline looks at me questioningly before accepting it and proceeding on.  
The sun has fully risen by the time we make it to Belethor’s and the streets are starting to become populated by the city’s early risers. I try the door to the shop and it opens, so we walk in.  
The place is filled with shelves holding various tools, foods, even a few weapons. One thing in particular catches my eye. There is a section in the back left corner with various display cases. One of which is open and showing off a small necklace with a beautiful red gem set into it.

Necklace of Fire Resistance  
Increases fire resistance by 30%

I want that. More dragon repellent is always welcome. Don’t want to pay for it though…  
Thinking quickly, I cast a spell behind one of the shelves before walking towards the counter.  
“Welcome! Come on in and look over my wares! I’m sure you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for!” Calls a sleazy looking breton with greasy black hair. “Let me know if there’s anything in particular you’re after. I’d be more than happy to assist you.”  
He looks like a shady car salesman. Like, worse than Matilda’s abusive father levels of shady. Why did I think this was a good idea?  
“I’m not looking to buy anything. I am wondering if you would be willing to buy some statues made from precious metals though.” I say as I move far to the right of the counter and pull off my backpack. I make sure his eyes are on me as I shove my hand inside the bag. I pull out two fairly decent sized solid gold statues. Both depict what you would assume an ancient mayan medicine man might look like.  
Belethor’s eyes lit up as he looked the statues over. “I would be most interested! I would gladly offer you 250 septims for the pair.” He says after doing something with a wooden tool of some kind. I assume he was determining if they were gold all the way through.  
Svarline looks at Belethor with a shocked expression while I just sigh. If it walks like a shady car salesman, quacks like a shady car salesman….  
“That price would be insulting if you were buying one, let alone both.” I say as I glare at the man. “15,000 septims for the pair.”  
Belethor adopts a shocked expression. “I don’t see how I could possibly make a profit at such an outrageous price. I must buy a case in which to display them, I must maintain them, and I would have to increase my anti-theft measures. All of which would all cost a large amount of coin on my part. I’m afraid I can’t go higher than 500 for the pair.”  
Is this man trying to Pawn Stars me? Have to buy a case my electrical ass. “I am lowering the price to 13,500 septims. If you don’t accept we walk.” I say.  
“I’m afraid 500 is the greatest I can do.” he sneers.  
I shrug and say, “Ok. Svar? Let’s go.” She hesitates a little at my shortening her name before smiling and following.  
The breton stammers for a moment before yelling, “Wait! 13,500 is perfectly acceptable!”  
I stop and turn. “Oh really? Well I’m truly sorry, but the price has increased to 27,500 septims. Take it or leave it.”  
Belethor looks like he’s about to have a panic attack, but forces himself to say, “Deal!” We exchange goods and we leave the store.  
I’m fairly certain I still got ripped off, but without knowing how much a septim is worth, I feel like I did ok. Even if losing any money at all pisses me right the hell off. Good thing I got the bastard back.  
“Mr. Rogers!” I call and my trusty pup appears before me with a necklace in his mouth.  
“Who’s a good boy!” I say as I lean down and start rubbing his ears. He tilts his head into my hand and lets out a rumbling purr.   
Ghost dogs can be surprisingly stealthy if you keep a sniveling cheapskate distracted with nice shiny gold for a bit.  
Realizing that I’m probably making a spectacle, I tell Mr. Rogers I’ll summon him as soon as I can and desummon him after taking the necklace.  
I try putting it on but the effect of my EXP necklace goes away. Guess I can’t stack enchantments that go in the same ‘slot’. Oh well. I would prefer the bonus EXP.  
I turn to Svarline and make an overdramatic bow. “For you madam!” I say holding the necklace out to her.  
She puts her hand against her chest and adopts a shocked expression. “My dear Dusk! Are you making me an accessory to robbery?” she asks with a smile.  
I slowly turn my head up to look at her. “The only reason I am not taking this back is because that one was slightly better than the rest.”  
She laughs and puts the necklace on. “Thank you Dusk.”  
“You’re welcome.” I say, “Just keep it hidden while we’re in the town proper. Don’t want the greaseball making a scene of it.”  
She nods and tucks the necklace into her shirt. Hiding it from view.  
We walk down the now sparsely populated street in the direction of the apothecary. A short trip later we come to the shop and make our way inside.  
A young nord boy with brown hair stands behind the counter.   
“Welcome.” he says. “I’m afraid my mother isn’t available to make any potions at the moment. All we have to offer is what is on display.”  
She must still be working with the wounded. “That won’t be a problem.” I assure him. “I would like five of every ingredient you have in stock if at all possible.”  
He nods and gathers everything up. There are a number of ingredients I recognize from the game, a bunch I recognize from Earth, and more that I have never seen before but know some of the properties of thanks to my class.  
The boy looks up at me. “That will be 273 septims sir.”   
I hand over the money and put everything into my ‘backpack’.   
Once everything is in my inventory I plant everything that can grow in my somehow functioning extra dimensional greenhouse and close the bag up. Magic shenanigans for the win.  
That done, I look up to see the boy staring at the bag with a confused expression.  
I smile and have some electricity spark over my hand. “I’m a wizard boy, and a wizard never reveals his secrets.”  
Svarline chuckles and we both leave the store. “Where to now?” she asks.  
“Now, we find a good blacksmith.”   
Not wanting to have to pay out the ass for Skyforge goods, I follow the map and lead us towards Adrianne’s forge.  
Before we were within sight of the forge itself, there was a bright glow emanating from between the buildings, as well as a rhythmic clanging. Seemed she was already working.  
We rounded a corner and came upon a woman with soot filled brown hair wearing a red dress underneath a heavy black apron hammering a piece of red hot metal on an anvil.  
She looked to us and put the strip of metal back into the forge before wiping her hands off and walking over. “You’re those two travelers who went to the dragon fight aren’t you? I saw you leave when I was delivering some arrows.” She says after looking us over. “How can I help you?”  
“We were hoping to commision some armor from you.” I say. “Our current attire is somewhat lacking.”  
The blacksmith smiles. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but since you mentioned it, I’m honestly surprised you two are still alive. Who outfitted you in that junk?”  
“He’s good at running away, and I’m a ranged fighter. I kept my distance. As for where we got it, it was literally all that was available.” Svarline says.  
Adrianne nods before straightening up and getting down to business. “I’m willing to give you two a discount for helping out, but I still need to be able to eat. What kind of armor were you wanting?”  
“I was thinking something lighter for me. Something that’ll let me move around easily while still being able to stop or lessen blows that would otherwise kill me.” I say.  
“I was thinking the same.” Svarline says. “But I would like something a little stronger than his. I can’t run away as quickly.”  
Adrianne nods thoughtfully. “I’ve got some ideas already. Is how it looks overly important to either of you?” she asks.  
Svarline and I shook our heads.  
“Ok. I can get you both a suit made for 7,550 with the discount.” Adrianne says.  
Don’t think about the price, don’t think about the price, don’t think about the price.  
“Deal.” I force out and reluctantly hand over the coin.   
Adrianne takes some of our measurements before telling us to come back in four days to pick up the armor.  
“Where to now?” Svarline asks.  
I sigh. “We should probably head up to Dragonsreach to talk about yesterday before they send a search party after us.”  
Svarline doesn’t seem too enthused with the idea either but nods her acceptance.  
We walk back through the streets weaving through the now bustling city as we make our way towards the keep. The civilians are all extremely jumpy. Looking up every minute or so, and going through the motions while still being tensed for an attack.  
Svarline and I arrive at Dragonsreach and climb the stairs. The guards on the doors take one look at us and wave us in. We proceed in to find a group of people sitting around a table talking.  
The Jarl is at the head of the table, with Irileth on his left and his brother on his right. Vilkas and Aela are seated next to an older man in bronze armor with a wolf’s head emblem emblazoned on the center of the cuirass.

Kodlak Whitemane  
Harbinger of the Companions  
Level- 92  
Race- Werewolf  
HP- 1200  
Thoughts about you- You healed quite a few of his people during the battle and allowed them to see the day’s end. He is grateful.

Delphine and Farengar make up the last two members of the table. Sitting next to one-another.  
“Ah, we were just about to send a runner for you.” The Jarl says. “Join us.” He indicates two unclaimed chairs next to the companions.  
We take a seat and the Jarl begins to speak.  
“Before anything else, I would like to thank each and every person at this table. Both those who fought, and those who stayed behind to organise a better defense in case our warriors had fallen.” He bows his head to the table. “Without you, this day would be one of terror. Instead, it is one of celebration, and remembrance of our fallen. I thank each and everyone of you for the roles you played in defending this city.” He raises his head and turns to Vilkas. “If you would give a recounting of the battle, from beginning to end, I would appreciate it.”  
Vilkas tells the story of the fight, with Aela occasionally adding in parts he missed. People look to me and Svarline as our various exploits are discussed, but no one interrupts until Vilkas describes the moment when Svarline absorbs Mirmulnir’s soul.  
“So this really happened?” Delphine asks. “She is truly the dragonborn.”  
Vilkas nods and says, “I will admit to being only passingly familiar with the legends, but all of what I do know points to that conclusion.”  
Delphine turns to Svarline. “You can shout then.”  
“Yes.” Aela answers for her. “All who were present at the end of the fight witnessed the event.”  
“If that is truly the case then she is the key to ending this threat.” Delphine says.  
“Would you mind explaining that Delphine?” the elder harbinger asks. “How widespread is this threat, and why is she the key?”  
Delphine takes a breath before beginning. “It sounds crazy, but dragon’s aren’t just returning. They are quite literally coming back from the dead.”  
At this point Farengar chimes in. “Yes, the two of us have been hard at work studying the problem since the first dragon was spotted flying away from Helgen. Delphine here arrived with a map she acquired from a nearby ruin. The map details the location of ancient dragon burial mounds. The map also detailed each dragon’s name and appearance under the location of where they were buried. Using witness testimonies we were able to narrow down the dragon’s appearance to one of two. Of those two, only the dragon Mirmulnir was buried close enough so as to be a problem for us.”  
Jarl Balgruuf spoke up at this time. “I sent scouts to the site at which the dragon is supposed to be buried. They, along with the group we sent to retrieve the beast’s remains, should be returning soon.”  
Kodlak turns to Delphine. “How sure of this are you?” he asks.  
“Completely.” she answers seriously.  
Kodlak nods. “Then until it is disproven I believe we should move forward assuming Delphine is correct.”  
Ok how do these two know each other? I don’t think they ever met or had met in the game. More importantly how do they know each other so well the Kodlak is taking her word as gospel? I am really starting to question if any of my metaknowledge is useful.  
I’m pulled from my internal grumbling when Farengar asks me a question.  
“What is the spell you used to breach his scales? If we were able to create a ranged version it would make fighting the beasts significantly easier.”  
I held my hand up and away from the table and cast Chidori.  
“It’s a spell of my own making.” I say. “It grinds down and cuts through whatever you press it against at an accelerated rate. As for making a ranged version. It won’t work. It is far too unstable. Without something to anchor itself to, it breaks apart and becomes useless. The best way to get any range out of it would be to cast the spell on throwing knives.”  
Farengar looks disappointed. “What of the spell you used to close the distance?” He asks. “Vilkas said it was as if you teleported, but you still left a trail as if you had run.”  
I dismiss the Chidori and shake my head. “That spell is potentially lethal to anyone who isn’t me. I am deeply in tune with lightning magic. That spell works by overcharging my entire body with lightning to surpass my limits. Even using it myself I have to be cautious or I could end up causing damage to myself. If someone else were to use it the shock might kill them instantly.”   
Farengar leans back in his chair and glares at me. I think he might be trying to set me on fire with his eyes  
Ya, be as pissed off as you want buddy. This is my magic. I determine who can and can’t use it.  
“That is enough of that for now Farengar.” The Jarl says. “The two of you can talk later. The harbinger asked a good question that still has yet to be answered. How widespread is the threat the dragons pose, and how can the dragonborn help us?” he asks, turning to Delphine.  
She takes a moment, then responds. “I can’t be sure how far it is spread at the moment, but I do know it will become a threat to the whole world if left unchecked.” Her words draw everyone’s attention to her. “Whatever is bringing them back isn’t going to stop after one or two. It will revive them all if possible, and if that happens, we will be looking at a world much like that which existed ages ago. When the dragons were our masters. She,” she points at Svarline. “is important because the dragonborn can truly kill a dragon. When she steals a dragon’s power, she absorbs its very soul. Stopping it from ever being able to return. Any permanent solution to this problem will involve her.”  
“So what do we do?” Vilkas asks. “We can’t just throw her at every dragon that appears. She is one woman. Capable though she may be, no one can stop an army of dragons on their own.”  
Delphine nods in agreement. “We have to figure out what is causing them to come back to life. Once we do that, we’ll be able to go for the source while she deals with any that are left.”  
I look at Svarline to see a frown on her face. She is looking around the table with contempt.  
Wonder what brought that on?  
I nudge her arm and mouth, ‘Are you ok?’  
She relaxes a little and nods her head.  
I look back to Delphine and catch the second half of her sentence.  
“...be there when it rises, we can figure out how to put a stop to this.”  
“How are you so sure the beast will be risen at that precise location at that precise time?” Aela asks. “You aren’t taking into account your prey’s actions. After our victory here, our enemy’s plans will surely be altered so as not to be defeated again.”  
That was a terrifying thought. Alduin learning and adapting instead of just showing up for the occasional cameo before flying off to sunbathe somewhere. I really would rather not have to deal with a Thanos that is out of his chair.  
Delphine frowns. “I can’t be sure, but this is the best chance we have regardless.”  
The Jarl stands up and holds out his hands. “I believe that is enough for now. The purpose of this meeting was to go over the events of yesterday and determine the threat presented by the dragons. That has been accomplished. Any strategy we come up with must involve the other holds, especially with the war going on. You say this dragon will rise near Windhelm? How do we send in a fighting force without the Stormcloaks seeing it as a threat and responding in kind? The last thing we need is to be attacked by our fellows because they believe us to be moving against them. I have already sent messengers to all of the holds to see about meeting under truce to discuss this. Until they have returned, we cannot take any significant action.”  
Delphine opens her mouth to protest but Balgruuf cuts her off. “No Delphine. I understand what waiting will cost us, but rash actions will cost us even more. We must do this the right way, or we will be unable to do anything at all. I thank you all for coming here. Go and celebrate your victory.”  
Everyone stands and goes on their way. I try to get Farengar's attention to maybe get some spells from him, but he pops out of existence.   
Ok. Skyrim wizards can teleport now. Good to know. I’ll have to get new spells later I guess.  
As Svarline and myself leave we find Aela waiting for us. “The Companions would be honored if you would join us in celebration.” she says.  
Svarline smiles. “Will there be food?” she asks.  
Aela scoffs. “Who do you take us for? The Oblivion damned Fighter’s Guild?”  
The two start walking away and, given little choice, I follow after.

  
Three hours and a large amount of mead consumed later, I made a discovery. I can’t get drunk. Which really sucks because that was my plan to get away from socialising. Svarline and Aela got it into their heads that I needed to meet every single member of the companions and share my life story with them. All I remember from the experience is that I recognized one of the no-name companions as one of the not important ones from the game. Njada something?  
Regardless, I snuck off after everyone was suitably wasted and found an empty alley to cast ID create in.  
I cast the spell and my surroundings changed. Instead of standing in a back alley I was now in what appeared to be an underground tomb.   
Great. It makes a pocket dimension. Guess I can’t use it to travel after all.

Quest Added!  
[Your very own dungeon!]  
Clear the first dungeon of ID Create to unlock more challenging versions!  
Objective- Beat the floor boss  
Reward- ID Create: Spirits

Oh well. It’s still a munchkin’s paradise.  
I begin walking down the only passage and hear a throaty snarl. I look over and see a green skinned man with a drooping face stumbling towards me.

Zombie  
Level- 3  
HP- 58

I shoot a weak lightning bolt into the thing and it falls apart on its way to the ground.  
This is going to be easy.  
I move through the corridors and slaughter hordes of undead with ease until I come to a large room with a high ceiling. I hear a loud roar and a large flesh golem falls from the ceiling to land in front of me.

Rag  
The Floor Boss  
Level- 20  
HP- 500

The monstrosity charges forwards as I yawn and hit him with a few lightning bolts. The thing collapses 3/4ths of the way to me and falls apart. I kick the closest piece for good measure.

Quest Complete!  
[Your very own dungeon!]  
Clear the first dungeon of ID Create to unlock more challenging versions!  
Objective- Beat the floor boss(Complete)  
Reward- ID Create: Spirits  
Current dungeons available; Zombies, Spirits

Rotting Flesh x47 added!  
Potion ingredient

Level Up x2  
Gain +20 Stat Points!

Dusk  
Level- 54  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 54/100 [3%]  
Crafting Class- Alchemist LVL50/50 [0%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 1950 [260 per minute]  
MP- 6400 [1280 per minute]  
SP- 1950 [260 per minute]  
STR- 125  
END- 130  
DEX - 128  
INT - 320  
WIS - 320  
CHA - 125  
LUK - 130  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 15

You have Maxed out the Alchemist class!   
You may now create advanced potions as well as create your own potions through research and experimentation!   
You are a master Alchemist!

Would you like to learn the Enchanting class?

A master Alchemist who has yet to make a single potion. My enemies truly tremble at my approach. When those ingredients finish growing I am taking a solid day off for potion making time.  
I selected yes to learn the enchanting class from my book.

Class Gained!  
[Enchanter]  
Imbue weapons, armor, and more with magical enhancements!  
Gain +1 INT, and +1 WIS per level

Dusk  
Level- 54  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 54/100 [3%]  
Crafting Class- Enchanter LVL 1/50 [0%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 1950 [260 per minute]  
MP- 6400 [1280 per minute]  
SP- 1950 [260 per minute]  
STR- 125  
END- 130  
DEX - 128  
INT - 320  
WIS - 320  
CHA - 125  
LUK - 130  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 15

I really need a swordsman class. Not just so I can use Yamato, but because I need to balance out my stat. I am 100% grateful for the +5 INT and WIS per level I get from being an Electromancer, but my build is starting to horribly min-maxed.  
Not to mention the crap EXP gains from the dungeon. I only got two levels from the entire thing, boss included. I get that I just leveled up like crazy from the dragon fight, but even with my absurd EXP gain this is going to take much longer than I hoped.  
I guess there’s no use complaining. Onto the next floor.

Quest Added!  
[2nd Floor]  
Fight your way through a hoard of vengeful spirits to unlock the next floor.  
Objective- Defeat the floor boss  
Reward- ID Create: Skeletons

Sighing, I recast the spell. I arrive in a forest and haunting laughter surrounds me. After a moment, I realize that the sound seems to be getting closer. I summon Mr. Rogers and pulled out his dragon bone.  
He happily plops down and starts gnawing on it.  
“Hang tight boy.” I say. “This might take awhile.” With that I move to meet the oncoming hoard of specters. I forgot how mind numbing grinding can be.

  
Quest Completed!  
[8th Floor]  
Fight your way through these, the largest of the goblin’s kin!  
Objective- Defeat the floor boss(Complete)  
Reward- ID Create: Demons  
Current dungeons available; Zombies, Spirits, Skeletons, Goblins, Orcs, Werewolves, Ogres, Demons

Ectoplasm x86 added  
Potion ingredient

Bonemeal x63 added  
Useful for growing plants  
Potion ingredient

Goblin Ear x92 added  
Potion ingredient

Goblin Nose x47 added  
Potion ingredient

Orcish Charm x21 added  
Pendant blessed by an orcish god to imbue their followers with strength

Werewolf Pelt x7 added  
Strong hide taken from the corpse of a werewolf

Werewolf Eye x121 added  
Potion ingredient

Ogre Eye x12 added  
Potion ingredient

Level Up! X48  
Gain +480 Stat Points!

Dusk  
Level- 102  
Class- Electromancer- LVL 100/100 [0%]  
Crafting Class- Enchanter LVL 49/50 [31%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 3360 [448 per minute]  
MP- 12000 [2400 per minute]  
SP- 3360 [448 per minute]  
STR- 220  
END- 224  
DEX - 300  
INT - 600  
WIS - 600  
CHA - 220  
LUK - 224  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 2  
SP/HP= END x 15

For reaching 200 STR you have gained a perk!  
Hard Hitting  
All melee damage you do is twice as strong

For reaching 200 END you have gained a perk!  
Fit  
Your SP/HP Regen= END x 4

For reaching 200 DEX you have gained a perk!  
Swift  
You can run twice as fast as an Olympic sprinter

For reaching 300 DEX you have gained a perk!  
Sharpshooter  
You are twice as accurate with ranged weapons

For reaching 400 INT you have gained a perk!  
Guarded Mind  
Attempts to mind control you are able to be fought off

For reaching 500 INT you have gained a perk!  
Vizier  
Once per month, you may ask any question and receive a true answer  
Will also provide wisdom of how to apply your new knowledge

For reaching 600 INT you have gained a perk!  
Perfect Memory  
From the point you gain this perk onwards, you possess a perfect memory and are able to recall anything that has happened to you.

For reaching 400 WIS you have gained a perk!  
Woodsmen  
You are at home in the wilds. You will almost never become lost unless affected by magic, and will always be able to find a meal or shelter.

For reaching 500 WIS you have gained a perk!  
Sixth Sense  
You will always know when you are about to come under attack. No one can surprise you.

For reaching 600 WIS you have gained a perk!  
Mana Sculpture  
You can now shape the pure mana used in all magic. You will have to train with this ability to become proficient.

For reaching 200 CHA you have gained a perk!  
Likable  
You have a trustworthy presence that draws people to you. Most people will want to get to know you better.

For reaching 200 LUK you have gained a perk!  
Rabbit’s Foot  
You can construct lucky charms out of everyday items that can be given to other people.   
These charms have no effect on yourself.

You have become a level 100 Electromancer! You are the undisputed master of lightning!

Enter the Storm  
Costs 1000 MP  
Create a severe electrical storm over an immense area that targets your foes.  
Must be used outside.

Greater Lightning Teleport  
Costs 500 MP  
Fire a bolt of lightning from your hand and teleport to the location it strikes.  
Enemies within 10 meters of the locations of both where you arrive and where you leave take INT x 2 Lightning Damage. Can choose not to damage enemies.  
You can take as many creatures with you as you are able to touch.

Shape Lightning  
By reaching level 100 in the Electromancer class, you now have almost unrestricted control of Lightning!  
You can shape, channel, or shoot lightning however you please.  
Lightning is in your blood.

For reaching level 100 Electromancer you have gained a title!  
[Master of the Storm]  
Any storm magics you use are 25% more effective.  
While fighting inside a storm, your stats are doubled.  
You may rest control of storm magics from your opponents and turn them against the wielder.

Holy crap that is a lot of notifications. I guess it makes sense. I’ve been at this for hours. I literally just stood still in most of the dungeons and my flaw drew all of the enemies to me. It made for efficient grinding, but I need to start being more careful now that I’ve reached the higher floors. I beat this one by avoiding everything with a combination of my teleport and godspeed while melting them. That probably won’t work against demons. Guess I’ve grinded as much as I can for now.   
….and a most fruitful endeavor it was.  
I maxed out Electromancer! Completely broken EXP gain for the freaking win!

[Congratulations Gamer!]  
[You have maxed out your first combat class!]  
[It’s time to choose your next combat class!]  
[Please select a primary class!]  
[Mage/Warrior/Thief]  
Warrior. Definitely warrior.

[Please select a specialization!]  
[Monk/Paladin/Archer/Saber/Swordmage/Berserker/Lancer/Ranger]

Not that I’m complaining, but why are there magic options? Shouldn’t the warrior be mostly physical?

[Both the Warrior and the Thief classes have magical options!]  
[Their magics are, of course, not as impressive as what a true mage can do, but they can use magic in various ways!]

Seems like a waste when I already have a maxed out magic class. Especially one that is so ridiculously strong. Besides, I need to balance my stats out. I’ll choose Saber.

[Very well!]  
[Your unused levels will carry over to your new class!]

[Class] (Saber)- Lvl 3/100  
Gain 5 STR, 5 END, and 2 DEX per Level  
You are now proficient in swordplay! You will become more skilled as you level up the Saber class.

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 102  
Class- Saber - LVL 3/100 [47%]  
Crafting Class- Enchanter LVL 49/50 [31%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 3585 [956 per minute]  
MP- 12000 [2400 per minute]  
SP- 3585 [956 per minute]  
STR- 235  
END- 239  
DEX - 306  
INT - 600  
WIS - 600  
CHA - 220  
LUK - 224  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 4  
SP/HP= END x 15

I grin as I look over my new stats.  
I suppose I have time for one more dungeon....  
“Fitting that my next floor contains demons.” I say aloud as I pull Yamato from my inventory.

Yamato  
Legendary Weapon  
A sword once wielded by the demon Sparda before he left it to his son Vergil  
Yamato can cut through dimensions  
Deals STR + 20 Dimensional Damage per hit  
This sword can cut through anything, and can cut at a distance. Stronger opponents will not be cut instantly.

Oh this is going to be so much fun. I cast ID Create and the world changes around me.  
Where before I was standing in the sparse wood where I fought the ogres, I now stood in a deep coal colored cave with molten rock flowing all around me. It was as if I was on the inside of a volcano.

Quest Added!  
[9th Floor]  
Fight through the demon horde and come out the other side victorious!  
Objective- Defeat the floor boss  
Reward- ID Create: Angels

I only have to wait a moment before my flaw does its work and lures a mass amount of flying, skittering, and wailing creatures towards me. Huh, this is the first dungeon with multiple enemy types. Cool.  
I turn myself into pure electricity and coat Yamato’s blade a brilliant blue as I meet the horde. The blade cuts through them like butter. Leaving bisected screaming demons in my wake as I continue forward.   
The demon’s try to block the blade with their scaled hides but the blade ignores the defense and cleaves them apart.  
I fire lightning and dimensional slices at anything not within my range, and cut down anything that comes within blade’s reach of me.   
Small flying imps are torn apart as they try to throw fire at me. Slug shaped demons spit acid at me but I dodge and cut them down. A pair of what I assume to be hellhounds are hit with enough energy to power a skyscraper for a day and hit the ground as nothing but ashes.  
Before too long, I’m standing in a pile of fiery gore and there is a brief lull to the combat.  
I took in a deep breath and said, “Three...Two...One…”  
*Crash*  
I turned and beheld a giant demon. Standing at least 14 feet tall with two large bat shaped wings protruding from its back. It had piercing red eyes beneath two curved black horns, and all over its body, its veins pulsated a heated orange underneath his red skin. Not unlike the magma around us.

Xal’gid  
Floor Boss  
Level- 125  
Race- Demon  
HP- 12,000  
Unique Abilities- Hellfire(Anything caught in this fire will burn until a holy element is used to extinguish the flame. Holy creatures are weak to this effect, making its treatment a risky endeavor.)  
Thoughts about you- You smell good and ruined his home. He is going to kill you now.

“Little mortals like you should take more care to not slight their betters.” A deep gravelly voice grates across my consciousness. “I will so enjoy taking you apart.” The demon bared its teeth and moved.  
My sixth sense sent an urgent warning of an incoming attack but I had no time to react.

-542 HP

I look around myself to see a crumbling stone which I was just thrust into. This guy is fast. I pull myself free and cast godspeed. I run around the cavern taking pot shots with my sword as I begin to charge up my lightning.  
The demon gives chase as I move around. He deftly dodges my ranged sword strikes as he slowly closes the distance. “What an interesting little toy you have there.” He taunts. “It will be quite fun to study it when you are dead!” Laying it on a bit thick aren’t we buddy?  
I keep striking with Yamato but I’m slowly beginning to realize something. Just having a sword class doesn’t make you a master swordsmen. When I was just mowing down the lesser mobs it was fine because they weren’t a threat, but this guy is no joke. I guess it makes sense. I sucked as a level 1 electromancer too. I’m going to need to keep my swordcraft very basic and make sure not to be flashy.   
That or I could use my magic.  
I come to a stop in the center of the cave and release the energy I had stored up. I become the epicenter of an electrical nexus which propagates throughout the entirety of the vast cavern. Lightning chains across other lightning making the very air hum. There is no place safe from my web.  
The demon howls in pain as he is assaulted from all sides by wave after wave of lightning bolts. He grits his teeth and lobs a churning ball of fire at me.  
I simply turn into electricity and allow the fire to pass harmlessly through my body before striking out with Yamato once more.  
Held in place by my nexus, the demon cannot dodge as I fire wave after wave of dimensional energy at him from my blade. The demon is impacted once, twice, three times. Its arm is severed from its body and falls to the ground in pieces. Eliciting a cry of anguish and malice from the demon as he struggles to fight back. I give it no room and continue to take it apart piece by piece.  
Its other arm comes off, followed by a leg, followed by both horns, followed by a wing. The demon falls to the ground with a resounding *boom*. I rush up to its back and channel lightning directly into my blade before stabbing it down into the back of the demon's head. Always go for the head kids.

Quest Complete!  
[9th Floor]  
Fight through the demon horde and come out the other side victorious!  
Objective- Defeat the floor boss(Complete)  
Reward- ID Create: Angels  
Current dungeons available; Zombies, Spirits, Skeletons, Goblins, Orcs, Werewolves, Ogres, Demons, Angels

I pull my sword free and begin to clean it as I look over my stats.

Level Up x2  
Gain +20 Stat Points!

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 104  
Class- Saber - LVL 5/100 [24%]  
Crafting Class- Enchanter LVL 50/50 [0%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 3735 [996 per minute]  
MP- 12000 [2400 per minute]  
SP- 3735 [996 per minute]  
STR- 245  
END- 249  
DEX - 310  
INT - 601  
WIS - 601  
CHA - 230  
LUK - 234  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 4  
SP/HP= END x 15

You have Maxed out the Enchanter class!  
You are now a master enchanter!  
Creating new enchantments is a simple endeavor for you.

No current crafting class available. Find a tome from which to learn a new discipline.  
Your extra one level will carry over to your next crafting class!

I should probably get a new crafting class before I go any further. I should also probably stop going into new dungeons. This one is about all I’m willing to risk at my current level. The demon was technically stronger than me but I have more utility. This will be where I train for a while.  
It’s also a good place to practice with the Yamato without having to worry about the environment. Looking around, I realize there are deep sword shaped slashes everywhere. In the walls, the ceiling, some of the larger boulders are even split in two. I need to be really careful with this thing until I’m good with it. It’s as much a liability as a power boost at the moment.  
Looking at the large demon’s corpse I start thinking about how this isn’t the first sentient floor boss I’ve come across. Every time I have met one I’ve always been ‘invading their home’ in one form or another. Maybe the IDs aren’t creating pocket dimensions but sending me to pre-existing places? Or maybe I’m creating completely new worlds with sentient beings populating them with each new floor? Eh, doesn’t matter. I need levels more than they need their houses.  
I cast ID Escape reemerging into the alley I originally cast the spell from. Looking around I realize I can’t see too well due to the sun no longer being in the sky. Must’ve been gone longer than I thought.   
I look down to see Mr. Rogers chewing on his bone in the alley next to me. Huh, he wouldn’t leave the spirit forest because he couldn’t pick up his bone, so I just left him to happily chew on it. He must’ve been brought out when I cast ID Escape. So maybe they aren’t real places? Are they all tied together to only exist while I’m in them? I don’t know, and thinking about it too hard will start me down a rabbit hole I’m not interested in exploring.  
I bend down and inventory Mr. Rogers’s heavily gnawed on dragon bone. Getting a soft whine from him in response.  
“Don’t worry.” I say as I scratch his ears. “You’ll get it back soon.”  
He pouts at me but nods his head up and down.  
He’s a smart boy.  
I give him one last pat on the head and unsummon him before leaving the alley and heading back to the inn.  
I can hear a few celebrations still ongoing in the distance but the streets are clear. Making for an uneventful trip back.   
I walk into the inn and find the place packed. A stark contrast from last night. There are guards, farmers, some kids, even some Companions, all celebrating the death of Mirmulnir. The children most definitely do not drink any of the mead or wine. Because alcohol is bad for kids and they are most definitely being supervised, and kids most definitely don’t get alcohol in this medieval world which I have found myself. Most definitely.  
I gently push my way through the crowd and get to the stairs. I am about to ascend when I’m stopped by a hand grabbing and pulling me back down.  
“Thewre you awe!” a very drunk Svarline slurs at me. “I’ve bin lookin evywere far yaooo.” She starts poking me in the chest as she continues. “Yooo shoodnt’a leeeft the paaartie. We had MEAD! It taystseses like huuuny.” She hiccups and starts laughing.  
“Ok.” I say very uncomfortably. “I think we should get you upstairs so you can sleep.” I begin guiding her upstairs.  
She shakes her head at me. “Do’n neeeed sleepy! I is FEIM!” She turns into a ghost and starts cackling like a mad woman.   
I groan as she walks through my grip. “I can’t tell if that was a pun or a sneeze.” I say as I wait for the effect to time out.   
Svarline is still cackling when she becomes corporeal again and promptly walks into a wall she was trying to pass through. Leading to even more cackling  
I am so not equipped to deal with this shit.  
I use my newly gained strength to pick her up over my shoulder and start carrying her up the stairs.   
From behind me I hear a shout of, “Keep it down will you?! We must preserve the sweet innocence of the children!”   
I flip the room off over my shoulder and walk up the stairs. Booming laughter echoes after me as all the drunks lose it.  
Back to our room, I throw Svarline on the bed and lock the door behind us. I then sit down on the floor and close my eyes to meditate the night away.  
Not five seconds pass when my new sixth sense triggers and I throw an arm to my right to block the incoming attack. My arm proves too weak to save me as Svarline tackle hugs me to the ground.  
“Y’ve ta slp wif me!” She says.  
“What.” I state.  
She doesn’t respond and just curls up next to me while locking her arms around me. Her breathing evens out as she quickly falls asleep.  
I have a very drunk woman destined to kill a beast that will eat the world using me as a body pillow. Aaand now she’s drooling on me. When did this become my life?  
Not willing to move for fear of her waking up and causing this bullshit to start again. I just close my eyes and go to sleep.

(Interlude: Borrik the Courier)

Almost there. Almost there.  
I had lost track of how long I had been riding. I think the sun was gone for a while? Is it back or did it just not go away? Maybe it went away and came back twice? I haven’t really been paying attention. I just need to get back.  
My horse is on her last legs. She’s frothing at the mouth and noticeably slowing. She hasn’t complained once though, hasn’t tried to stop or anything. She’s such a good horse. I really hope she makes it to Whiterun.  
The Jarl needs to know. I need to tell the Jarl.  
I didn’t even make it to Windhelm. I just turned around and rode as if Oblivion had opened up behind me. It’s not too far from the truth I suppose.  
It’s ironic really. I was sent to warn our neighbors about the dragon menace, and I showed up to see a dragon tearing the entire city apart. You can’t make this shit up.  
Wow the dehydration must be getting to me. I’m starting to laugh about a dragon attack.  
Or maybe I imagined it? No. I was feeling fine on the trip out. I stopped drinking on the way back. Right?  
I crest a very familiar hill and almost fall from the saddle in relief when I see Whiterun standing not a mile off.  
“We can make it Cally.” I say to my horse. “Just hold on a little longer girl.”  
She doesn’t respond but seems to get her second wind as she sees home in the distance.  
She runs us the rest of the way and I quickly dismount. The poor girl collapses the moment I leave her saddle.  
I grab the nearest strable boy and growl at him. “Make sure she recovers.”  
I ignore the boy’s questions as I force my tired body to sprint up to the main gate. The guards recognize the black and gold tunic I wear which shows I am a messenger of the province. Makes it much easier to get around when people know you’re official.  
The guard to the right is wearing standard dress, but the one on the left is wearing captain’s armor. I throw myself forward and grab his cloak at the shoulder.  
“Woah there courier take a breath and…” the captain begins but I interrupt him.  
“The Jarl! Tell the Jarl! Dragons! Windhelm attacked! Dragons!” I’m having trouble breathing. Is that normal?  
The captain’s eyes grow wide. “Windhelm was attacked by a dragon?!”  
I smile as I hear my message delivered and nod. Wow I’m really tired all of a sudden.  
“Lenrich! Venhalf! Get this man to a healer immediately! Bellar! With me! The Jarl must hear of this!” the captain yells out to his men.  
I did it. Yay.  
I wonder if Cally is ok…..  
My eyes drift closed and darkness takes me.


	6. 6

I wake up feeling a very wet thing touching my cheek. I reach my hand up to wipe it off and feel teeth. I look over and find Svarline laying on my head with her mouth hanging open. Dripping saliva down onto my face.   
I can already tell this is going to be a great day.  
Sliding out from under her, I wipe my face off and throw a blanket over her before I leave the room. Walking downstairs I find a mass of passed out townsfolk. Guess they forgot to go home last night.  
I step over the bodies and go outside. Pulling my map from my ‘backpack’ I start heading for a bookstore that is shown to be not too far from where I am. I walk for a few minutes before entering the store.  
“Hi there!” an older man with a full head of grey hair greets me. “Anything I can help you with?”  
“I’m looking for books on various crafting disciplines.” I respond.  
“Follow me.” he says and leads me to a specific shelf.  
I look over the selection. There are quite a few books on enchanting and alchemy. Some detailing how to build houses, and a few on smithing.  
“How much for this?” I ask holding up one of the smithing books that will give me the class.  
“10 septims.” he smiles back.  
I pay the man and leave the store.

Smithing skill book  
Grants the [Smithing!] crafting class

Class gained!  
[Blacksmith] Level- 2/50  
Work with leather and various metals to maintain your current gear and make something new!  
Grants 1 END, and 1 STR per level

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 104  
Class- Saber - LVL 5/100 [24%]  
Crafting Class- Blacksmith LVL 2/50 [5%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 3765 [1004 per minute]  
MP- 12000 [2400 per minute]  
SP- 3765 [1004per minute]  
STR- 247  
END- 251  
DEX - 310  
INT - 601  
WIS - 601  
CHA - 230  
LUK - 234  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 4  
SP/HP= END x 15

That done, I make my way back to the inn.   
When I get back everyone is still passed out, so I just walk over them again and go back to the room Svarline and I are staying in. She’s still passed out on the floor where she tackled me when I got back to the room.  
Sighing, I pick her up and lay her down on the bed before sitting down next to her.   
I’m kind of fed up with Whiterun. I really expected to be able to occupy my time here by doing something productive, but I just can’t find anything. I mean there’s nothing here that really interests me all that much.  
There’s the Companion questline, but I’m a mage and would prefer to become a vampire if I decide I want to be supernatural. There’s the Ebony Blade, but that thing is a nightmare and a half. Plus I would be grabbing the attention of the Daedra. You don’t live long if you do that. There’s just nothing here that I really want.  
…  
I haven’t killed Nazeem this playthrough…  
…  
On second thought, not a good idea. I’d prefer to leave here on good terms if at all possible. Which brings me back to the problem of having absolutely nothing to do.  
I could continue to grind but one thing’s stopping that. 

Svarline The Dragonborn of Legend  
The Last Dragonborn  
Level- 64  
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)  
HP- 2940  
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)  
\- Soul Devouring(When absorbing a dragon soul, if the dragonborn dealt the killing blow, the dragonborn steals more than the dragon's knowledge. Siphoning the dead beasts strength and power for their own. Can be used to obtain a number of benefits.)  
Thoughts about you- You make a nice pillow

She hasn’t improved since the dragon fight. Whereas I’m now to the point where I can battle literal demons. If I’m going to keep travelling with her I need to make her stronger. I can’t do that by laying around in this city for extended periods of time.  
The second our armor’s made we’re leaving.   
I’ll figure out what to do from there. I can maybe see if I can drag her into IDs with me, but I’d like to avoid that if possible. The next best option would be to give her Ascalon and hunt down some dragons, but I don’t know how good she is with a sword. Besides, that way lies near certain death.  
There is a massive power gap in this world. The human-like races are all mostly street level unless they can use magic. Making their ability vary based on the caster. Then, you have the higher undead like vampires who I have no experience fighting in person, but they can take people apart pretty easily in the game, and past experience makes me believe they are stronger in this not-quite-game version of Skyrim. Finally, we have the dragons. Who are mountain level at their very weakest. How the cannon dragonborn lived through all this bullshit is hard to fathom.  
In order for Svarline to get stronger, I would need to help her hunt down mountain level creatures and let her kill them. I honestly don’t know if it's worth the effort. Might need to show her my IDs after all. I can play the pocket dimension angle to keep suspicion down if I need to.  
Thinking about it, I guess I could just ditch her? I don’t really want the enemies I will inevitably gain if I hang around her. Plus, I could just go with my original plan and hide in a cave until I’ve gathered enough power from my IDs. That’s honestly the best plan as far as survival is concerned, but I’m not even honestly considering it am I?  
Why not? I don’t want to die. That’s definitely not a factor. Do I want a powerful companion? I suppose but I would be better off finding someone like Serana or Illia who is already a badass and a half. Am I just lonely?  
…  
Yep. That’s it. What’s the point of becoming all powerful if your only purpose in becoming so is to gain even more power? I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed running around with Svar. It’s been a pretty long time since I’ve had friends, and I’m not willing to give that up.  
Which means I have to make her strong enough to survive on her own.  
…  
Guess I’m going to have to make anti-dragon plans aren’t I?  
I think about it for a while more when I’m interrupted by a soft groan.   
Looking over, I see Svarline starting to wake up. She’s moving slow and holding her head. Her hand glows gold for a moment and suddenly she is much more aware.  
“Thank the divines for restoration magic.” she mumbles.  
She looks around as if trying to find something. Her eyes fall on me and stop.  
She frowns. “Wasn’t I on the floor?”   
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You remember that?”  
“Magic is very useful.” she says in lieu of an answer. She looks over at me with a curious expression. “You left the party really early. Where’d you go?”  
“I was training.” I say honestly. “Because of being whatever I am, I can get really strong really fast if I’m motivated enough. I’ve already mastered my electromancy.” I say as I summon electricity in my hand to demonstrate. I shape it into a humanoid figure and have it start to do the macarena.  
Svarline watches in awe before frowning. “How strong are you compared to me?” she asks.  
“Very.” I answer. “We need to start making you stronger. Because you’re a dragonborn, trouble is going to be glued to your ass. You need to kill as many dragons as possible and steal their power before we come across something too strong to fight. On a related note, how good are you with a sword?”   
She tilts her head. “I’m not bad, but I’m much better with a bow and my magic.”  
“You may not know but I’m a master enchanter.” I say as I pull Ascalon from my inventory. “This sword is tailor made to kill dragons. I didn’t make it, but I can feel the strength of the enchantment.” I say being honest. Did I make this sword? Hell no. Could I make this sword? Hell no. I would need years of research even with my class to get this good. This thing is on Excalibur's level when facing dragons. One does not just decide to make a sword that can rival Excalibur.  
Svarline’s eyes light up as she snatches the sword from me. She draws the blade from its sheath and it gives off a faint yellow glow. She pulls her eyes away from the blade to look at me. “We’re going dragon hunting?” she asks with a savage grin.  
“Not yet.” I emphasize. “Once you are good with the sword and we both have trained a little more.” An idea comes to me to make our stay in the city productive and I smile. “We can head to Jorrvaskr today and see if Vilkas is willing to give us some lessons.”  
She nods enthusiastically and stands up before turning back to me. “Us? I thought you were only a mage?”  
I nod. “I was. That changed when I got this.” I pull Yamato from my inventory. “I got it when I got that.” I motion to Ascalon. “My ability lets me pull various things from various places. Some are really useful, like these swords. Others,” I pull out my Commodore 64 controller. “seem to have no purpose whatsoever.”   
Svarline’s eyes are drawn to the controller. She pulls it from my hand and starts fiddling with it. “Can I keep this?” she asks.  
“Sure.” I say. Not like I’m using it for anything.  
She puts the controller in her bag before looking back to the sword in my hand. “Can I try that?” she asks.  
“That I’m going to have to say no to.” She looks at me, offended. “It’s not that I don’t trust you with it. It’s that I don’t trust anyone with this thing. Myself included. Watch.” I pull my imperial sword out and slowly lower Yamato towards it. Being nothing but a simple sword made from steel, Yamato passes right through it even moving at a snail’s pace. Severing the blade.  
The upper half of the sword hits the ground and Svarline’s eyes widen. “Ya.” I say. “I haven’t really found anything this won’t cut through. I won’t be using it unless it’s absolutely necessary and I actually know what I’m doing. I’ll be using this instead.” I pull out the Shocking Blade I got from the Riverwood quest. “This thing sucks compared to the other two but it’s safe to use for a novice.”  
The Yamato is really freaking cool, but equally freaking scary. I know for a fact it won’t cut through everything. Otherwise the Rebellion would have been useless against it. My best guess is enchantments of greater power, and beings of greater power won’t be affected by its ‘cut anything ability’. Considering that in this world, the only things like that are the Daedric artifacts and extremely powerful mages/undead/dragons, I need to be ridiculously careful with this sword.  
Svarline nods in acceptance of my explanation. “So we’re going to Vilkas now right?” she asks excitedly.  
I smile. “Yes. Let’s go.”

Many many hours later Svarline and I drag ourselves back into our room and stretch out our sore muscles.   
Vilkas was more than happy to assist us. He was also offended by our form, and took it personally that we fought a dragon while being so martially inept.   
Hey man, in my case, it’s just one of the many flaws I’m working to overcome…  
Svarline has corrupted me.  
Overall though, It was more than worth it. Even with my flaw I’m learning how to use a sword correctly. My class is most definitely helping me to overcome the EXP drain. Even if I’m not gaining levels, I can tell that without being a Saber none of these lessons would stick.  
While it would still be much faster to just EXP grind, that’s not the only reason we’re training with Vilkas. Svar needs sword lessons ASAP. Lessons Vilkas has been giving to Companions for years. Getting him to teach Svar will greatly increase her effectiveness.  
“Let’s never do that again.” Svarline groaned.  
“Sorry Svar. 3 more days until Adrianne finishes our armor and we can leave. We are spending every moment of it with Vilkas.” I say back.  
“But I can’t lift my arms anymore.” she complained.  
“Do you want to be able to use that sword to fight dragons?” I ask looking over at her.  
She looks at me and sighs. She then smiles and falls into the bed. “Let me sleep on it.” she says as she tucks Ascalon beneath her and lays down.  
How many millions of beings throughout the multiverse would give their lives to even look upon that blade? And she just used it to make a bad pun. Why do I put up with her again?  
I sigh. “Please put the sword away. I would prefer not to have it stab into my back while I’m trying to sleep.”  
Svarline’s head slowly turns to face me. She looks at me for a second before her lips pull up into a terrifying grin.  
What did I say?! All I said was I didn’t want the sword…….   
Oh. It’s a dick joke. Great.  
“I’ll put my sword away,” she says in a sultry voice as she flutters her eyelashes at me. “but it doesn’t seem very fair given how yours has been pressing up my stomach everytime we lay together.”  
Nope. Too tired to deal with this bullshit. Nope  
“Goodnight Svar.” I say as I lay down and close my eyes facing away from her.  
I hear her get up and walk around the bed. Must be putting Ascalon away.  
Suddenly I feel a body push itself into my chest and hear a voice say, “Goodnight. We’ll play with your sword more tomorrow.”  
The last thought in my mind as I drift off is that I have somehow become the big spoon.

Four days later Svarline and I are ready to leave Whiterun.  
We spent every free moment of time possible with Vilkas getting our asses kicked in swordplay. Could I have beaten him with magic? Easily, but it would have defeated the purpose of the training.  
Still no levels from the training, but I didn’t expect any. IDs would have been much better had I wanted to level fast, or even if I wanted to learn swordplay only for myself, but my main goal was to get Svarline comfortable with Ascalon and I’ve done that so I’m happy. I can grind any time. This was my best chance to get her some useful sword instruction.  
On the third day after training we picked up our armor.  
Both sets were fairly simple. Mine was simple black and brown, made from leather and reinforced with steel where it would not interfere with my movement.

Armor  
Made by Adrianne Avenicci to be better than the shit you arrived in.  
Decreases damage taken by END + 50

Svar’s was similarly colored, but was sturdier than my own. A good thing, because of the two of us, she is the one without Gamer’s Body.  
Once we retrieved our armor we spent the evening with the companions and said our goodbyes. They tried to get us to stay, but wished us well when they realized we wouldn’t be swayed.  
Checking over our room to ensure we haven’t left anything behind, we check our newly stocked packs, as well as a newly stocked inventory. I was able to learn a fun thing about my inventory while we were getting supplies. It puts things into a time-locked stasis. I put a bowl of hot soup inside, and when I pulled it out it hadn’t gotten any colder. Pretty useful feature.   
Svarline and I throw our packs on and make our way down stairs.  
Svarline walks up to Hulda and returns the key. “Thank you for letting us stay Hulda.” she says.  
Hulda just chuckles. “Keep killing those overgrown lizards and you’ll never have to pay to stay at my inn. Take care you two.”  
I nod goodbye and Svar and I leave.  
Looking at our new map of the province, I start charting the best path to Winterhold when we’re stopped on our way to the main gate by a runner.  
“Sorry Sir and Madam, but Jarl needs to speak with the two of you.” The guard respectfully tells us.  
Svar groans in annoyance. She’s as eager to get moving as I am.  
I really don’t want to play any part in whatever politics they’ve got going on, but I also want to maintain a cordial relationship with Whiterun’s leadership. Could be useful in the future. With a sigh I nod at the guard and follow after him.  
We are escorted up to Dragonsreach by a small group of guards. The trip is over quickly and we enter the keep. We are led to a large conference area to the left of the main hall.  
The Jarl, Delphine, and Farengar all stand around a small table in the cozy room.  
“Thank you for coming.” Balgruuf says. “I’m glad we were able to find you before you left. I’m afraid we need your help once more.”  
We couldn’t have left two hours earlier could we? We had to get wrapped up in whatever bullshit these idiots are cooking up, and who the hell was spying on us that they knew we were leaving today?  
“What’s the problem?” Svarline asks somewhat impatiently.  
“The problem.” Delphine seethes. “Is that a dragon has attacked Windehelm. For all we know, the city has been destroyed.”  
The news causes us to freeze.  
What?   
Why are they active so early? Was it something I did? Which dragon was it? Why Windhelm? Are the other holds safe?  
What?  
Delphine grunts upon seeing our expressions. “Good, you seem to understand what this means.”  
“How do you know?” I ask. “I thought you needed to send runners in order to get information back and forth.”  
Balgruuf gives a nod. “We do. The runner we originally sent returned not half an hour ago. The man was exhausted. He saw the dragon attacking the city and must have rode straight back without stopping. His horse will likely die from the strain of carrying him back so quickly.”  
“Where’s the dragon now?” Svarline asks with a hungry look in her eye.  
“We don’t know.” Farengar speaks up. “Frankly, it doesn’t matter. We need to make preparations for when one of these beasts inevitably decides to attack us here. The fact that they are now confirmed to be attacking cities does not bode well for our survival.”  
Svarline frowns. “I don’t understand. Are we not going after the dragon?”  
Delphing shakes her head. “Without knowing how the things are coming back to life, we can’t afford to. Which is where you come in.” She points to Svar. “You’re going to be coming with me to figure out what’s bringing the lizards back.”  
Svarline’s demeanor changes from anticipation to reservation. “Why me?”  
Delphine rolls her eyes. “Stupid question dragonborn. We need you.” Delphine says making Svar bristle slightly. “We don’t have anyone else who can truly kill these things. If the only way to save people is to use you to suck out their souls? You can bet I’m taking full advantage of that. Having you with me when we find the source of them coming back to life is a must.”  
Svar bristles slightly. “You want to use me to suck their souls out? Do I not get a say in this endeavor?”  
Delphine shrugs. “Not really. You’re our best chance whether we like it or not. Which means you go wherever we need you to go.”  
Svar goes from reserved to agitated. I might be imagining it, but it almost looks like faint wisps of smoke are rising up from her shoulders.   
I step in before anything else can be said and try to calm everyone down.   
“Hold on.” I say. “Believe me when I say I understand how serious a dragon striking Windhelm is, but…”  
“Good.” I’m interrupted by Farengar. “Because you will be working under me from now on.”  
I turn to face the wizard. “Excuse me?” I say.  
The wizard tilts his nose up. “Your spells have proven effective against dragonhide, but they are limited by your own shortcomings as a mage.”  
What did he just say?  
“You are obviously not as skilled as myself.” The wizard continues. “With your assistance, I will be able to create superior versions of your spells with which to defend the city. At which point your ability to help will have lessened greatly. Allowing you to be sent in the advance parties we use to scout the creatures out. I suppose you could just leave as well. So long as you are no longer needed you are free to do as you please.”  
Is this man being serious?   
“No.” Svar speaks up. “The two of us stay together. I want the dragons dead as much as the two of you, but I will not be used by anyone. Yourselves included.”  
Delphine lets out a long sigh as if she is having to tolerate a child. “Listen girl. This is far more important than whatever issues you obviously have. If we don’t act now? People die. If you don’t cooperate with our plan? People die. The longer the two of you fight us on this, the harder it’s going to be for all of us. Can you live with countless deaths on your head half-breed?” Delphine scolds without a hint of emotion.  
Fucking what you say bitch?!  
The air starts to faintly hum. It takes me a moment to realize I am the epicenter of the disturbance and control my power.  
Svarline growls and I think I see more of the smoke from before, but with the torches in the room situated the way they are I can’t tell for sure.  
“Delphine!” Balgruuf shouts. “Control yourself at once! You are out of line!”  
Svarline growls and glares at Delphine. “I am willing to kill the dragons, but I will not work with those who do not respect me.”  
Delphine lets out a short laugh. “I don’t really care what you think of me dragonborn. This is bigger than that. I will not allow a cowering child to ruin our best chance.”  
Svarline is now visibly reacting. I go to step in but Balgruuf beats me to it.  
“Delphine!” Balgruuf shouts, looking the woman in the eye. “That is enough. Excuse yourself to the throne room. Now.”  
Delphine holds his gaze for a moment before walking from the room.  
Balgruuf sighs and turns to Svarline. “Allow me to apologize for her brashness dragonborn. The news from Windhelm has us all on edge.”  
Svarline forces herself to calm down. She looks at Jarl and says, “That is understandable. Now what do we plan on doing about Windhelm?”  
Farengar scoffs. “Were you not listening? You, dragonborn, will go with Delphine to root out the source of the dragon’s return. While your companion will assist me in my research.”  
Svarline begins to growl once more. “I will not follow obediently at her heels like some lovestruck pup.”   
Farengar shrugs. “You do not have to be pleased with the situation, but this is the way events will play out. You are too important a player in this conflict to be left without supervision, and your companion will allow me to create weapons that are able to combat the beasts.”  
I’m really starting to get irritated with you.  
“I don’t take orders from you, and neither does Svar. Not the dragonborn. Svar.” I say to Farengar. “I am doing my best to tolerate you because of the gravity of the situation, but you are making it harder by the second to stay and hear you out.”  
Svarline grunts her agreement. “I will see to it the dragons pay for this. We are willing to work with you, but we will do it on our terms. Which means we need to leave the city. We need to get stronger to better stand a chance of defeating them. We cannot grow in strength while waiting for you to give us orders.” she says.  
Farengar rolls his eyes. “This little display is growing taxing. You are not leaving the city until Delphine is ready to make your journey. We need you here until then. When the time comes to hunt the dragons down, then we will all leave the city in order to eliminate them. Until that time however, you will remain here and assist us in preparing for all upcoming battles. We cannot risk the dragonborn being killed because she got cabin fever.”  
Now I’m really getting pissed. “You have no power over us.” I say. “We are not citizens of Whiterun, and we owe you no allegiance. We will hunt the dragons down on our own, especially knowing now what they have done. If they are truly attacking cities they need to be exterminated, but we will not allow you to turn us into weapons. Any assistance you receive from us will be, as Svar stated, on our terms. Not yours. You need us more than we need you.”  
Farengar outright laughs at this. “You,” he points to me. “are not needed for anything other than your unique spells. You are free to leave as soon as I have perfected whatever flawed creation you have made, but not a moment before. The dragonborn on the other hand, cannot be allowed to wander alone. We must plan how to use her in the most efficient way possible. She is the greatest resource we currently possess and must be treated accordingly.”  
Svarline growls again and now I’m sure she really is smoking. “Resource?! I am not a resource to be used however you see fit.” she practically screams.  
I force myself to remain calm and say, “Farengar. You are out of line. If you continue to refer to my friend as an object there will be consequences. As for your arrogant proclamations, I reiterate. You. Have. No. Power. Over us. We are free to fight this battle however we see fit. We attended this meeting in good faith, and stayed to promote collaboration. As of right now, I no longer care to collaborate with you until you are able remove the broom handle from your ass. As such, we are leaving.” I turn to Svar and she nods.   
Before we can move though, Farengar calls out in an arrogant voice. “You are correct. You are not citizens of Whiterun, and I currently do not possess the power to order you to do anything. However, you have lived in our city for more than three days, and are thus subject to a number of our laws.” The wizard stands straighter and speaks out in an authoritative voice. “As the Court Wizard of Whiterun Hold I am hereby conscripting the two of you into the service of Jarl Balgruuf the Greater, where you will remain until such a time as the Jarl sees fit to release you from your service. You will of course be compensated for your service to your hold.” He finishes with a wicked grin.  
Oh he did not just fucking say that.  
I force my rage down and turn to Balgruuf. “Do you support this action?”  
Balgruuf stands tall and meets my eyes. “I am thankful for all you have done for us. You are already owed a debt we will never be able to repay, but I must do whatever is necessary to protect my people. If the dragons are truly targeting the major cities, They will soon turn their eyes to Whiterun, and the two of you are able to help defend Whiterun Hold and its citizens? Then I must put my people first.”  
“Svarline.” I say ignoring the man’s reasoning. “We are leaving. Right now.”  
“I’m afraid I can’t let you.” Farengar says relaxing his posture and loosening his hands. “I would much prefer your involvement be voluntary, but if needs must, you will be incarcerated until you are needed. Your spells are all we need from you. Whether you give them to me willingly or not is of no consequence. As far as the dragonborn is concerned, the legends say she is able to absorb the souls of dragons slain by the allies who fight at her side. We do not need her to willingly join in the battle, only to be present to ensure the beast is truly killed. Her cooperation is not needed.”  
“I will not be your slave.” Svarline growls as her black irises adopt a faint orange hue.  
“Farengar!” Balgruuf cuts in. “You go too far!”  
The wizard turns to the Jarl. “I am sorry my Jarl, but our home is under assault by creatures of legend. Creatures who have the ability to destroy everything we have built. Extreme measures must be taken.”  
“I will not permit these actions to be allowed in my hold! Dragons or no dragons! Do I make myself clear?” The Jarl seethes.  
Farengar holds his gaze for a moment before relenting. “Very well my Jarl.” He turns back to us. “However, I must still insist that the two of you enlist yourselves into the service of the Jarl.”  
Asshole. I can see where you’re coming from, but I am not a pawn for you to order around, and I’ll be damned if I let you turn my friend into a glorified fucking soul gem.  
A sound from behind alerts me of Delphine’s return. She leaves the door open behind her, providing me a view of the throne room as well as several of the heavily armored guards who went to fight Mirmulnir with us at her back.  
Balgruuf sighs before standing tall once more. “I am sorry.” He says. “I must put my people’s safety above all else. I am truly thankful for all you’ve done, but I must ask you to please cooperate. You have my word of honor the two of you will not be treated unfairly. I will personally see to it that you are compensated handsomely for your service.”  
Ya, sure. Just pretend your pet wizard wasn’t describing magically induced slavery. I’m well read enough to know how that turns out. How long till we get nice shiny collars to wear?  
Svarline and I have gone back to back as everyone in the room starts to slowly surround us.  
“Please do the right thing.” Farengar says. “You will be hailed as heroes.”   
“The right thing?” I laugh at him. “Pissing off the dragonborn and a mage whose hands melt through dragon scales is the right thing to do when you are under assault from dragons?”  
Farengar sneers. “Your spells speak to your potential, but one lucky success does not a talented mage make. Once I have your spells I will create better versions. One with range for the attack spell as you have failed to do, so we may use it against the dragons while they are still in the air. As well as one which does not involve the killing of the caster for your speed spell. Now please relinquish your weapons and cooperate with the guards.”  
I might just kill you on my way out of this place if you don’t stop running your fucking mouth.  
“Please.” Balgruuf pleads once more. “Find it in yourselves to help us. We cannot fight this battle without you. I understand if you are angry with us, with me, but I must do everything I can to defend my hold and its people.”  
I practically growl at the man. “You threaten us with slavery and then have the nerve to ask us to help you out of the good of our hearts?!”  
“Am I to take that to mean you will not assist us of your own will?” Farengar asks with a grin.  
“Yes.” Svarline snarls.  
Delphine huffs in irritation and walks up to Svar. “Get it through your skull girl! This is bigger than you! Now shut up, and listen. Your way won’t work. So we are going to do this our way, and you are going to like it.”  
Svarline is visibly trembling as she whispers, “I will not be used. Not ever again.”  
Svarline’s eyes turn a piercing yellow and she shouts out, “YOL!!!” A torrent of dragonfire spews forth from her mouth engulfing Delphine and the guards behind her.  
Delphine and the guards all cry out and dive away from the intensely hot flame. Tearing off any armor and clothing that is already alight.  
Farengar shouts, “You foolish child!” He lifts his arms towards Svar. Before he can cast anything however, I grab her shoulder and cast my Greater Teleportation through the open door, and back into the throne room.  
Svar got two words from one dragon?! We need to talk later. About a lot.  
I don’t see the aftereffects of Svar’s thu’um because the two of us disappear with a loud *Crack-THOOM* and reappear back in the throne room. I hear horrific screaming from the room we just vacated as the guards futilely try to fight the fire.   
Farengar’s voice joins in cacophony as he takes the full force of my Greater Teleportation’s damage component right to his face. As I left, I changed the radius into a beam with my Electromancy mastery and aimed it directly into him.  
“Outside now! Stay close!” I yell to Svarline and the two of us run.  
“Stop them!” Delphine sans her cloak calls from the door. How the hell did she avoid the fire?  
Not important right now.  
The two guards playing sentinel at the main door see us and draw their swords after pulling a lever.  
A chain is pulled tight by the lever. Dropping several large steel beams into place around the door. Barricading it shut.  
Svarline runs ahead and meets the guards with Ascalon drawn. She manages to maneuver around the shield of one of them and drops him with a pommel strike under the chin. Vilkas is a good teacher.  
The second moves to strike her but I put a bolt into his center and he is blown back.  
I pull Yamato from my inventory and slash out at the door. Being very careful to keep Svarline out of the kill zone. Solid steel and sturdy wood are reduced to mush as Yamato slices through them as easily as a normal sword would cut air. Svarline and I rush through the destroyed door as soon as a large enough opening is made, and I place Yamato back into my inventory for fear of accidentally hitting Svar.   
Svar pauses for a moment to focus and the rumble created from the door turns into a slick black oil. Svar smiles and snaps her fingers. A faintly glowing ember leaps from her hand and ignites the oil. A large fire roars up behind us cutting off the guards. Svar’s grin widens and she runs up to me.   
The good thing about being at Dragonsreach at this moment is it is very high up. Giving me an excellent view for miles around Whiterun. I placed my hand on Svarline’s shoulder and send a lightning bolt out over the city, casting my teleportation spell once more.  
“Wait!” I hear the voice of Irileth call out from the stairs below us before I’m suddenly standing in a forest miles to the north of Whiterun.  
“We’re not safe yet. They can still run us down with horses.” I say to Svarline as she gets her bearings. “I’m going to use the speed spell again so we can cover a lot of ground before they realize where we are. There’s a chance the unexpected speed will mess with you somehow. I’ll make sure we’re away then heal you if needed.”  
“I trust you.” she says.  
Without another word I place my right hand behind her head so she doesn't get whiplash and pick her up with my left arm. I activate Godspeed and move in a straight line. Before long Whiterun disappears under the southern horizon.  
What the fuck just happened?

(Interlude: Irileth)

Walking back from my inspection of the guard’s quarters, I’m surprised when the door to Dragonsreach is suddenly cut into pieces by some unseen force.  
Two figures I recognize as the dragonborn and her companion sprint through the opening. The dragonborn then turns around and snaps her fingers. A writhing mass of fire rises up behind the pair as whatever the dragonborn just did causes flames to start to lick at the castle walls.   
I see the mage go to cast a spell.  
“Wait!” I yell as the two warriors standing in front of a burning Dragonsreach disappear in a flash of blue light.  
I run up the rest of the stairs and quickly call upon my frost magic to douse the flames before they are able to spread.  
With the fire gone, I’m able to see the sturdy doors leading into the keep have been cut cleanly. As if someone took the world’s sharpest sword to them.  
I run into the keep and see pandemonium. Two guards are unconscious on the ground not five feet away from me. A dozen more are running past me and frantically looking around.  
I see Delphine standing in the center of the floor and move towards her. “What in Oblivion is going on?!” I ask her.  
Delphine walks past me without a glance in favor of moving into a side room where she begins yelling at Farengar as he screams and rolls across the ground. “Get up wizard! You’re the only one who can track them. We cannot let the dragonborn get away!”  
I get right up into Delphine’s face so as not to be ignored, “Why was the dragonborn running in the first place?!”  
“Because she took offense to our attempt to conscript her.” Came a weary voice from the corner.  
I turned to the corner and saw a figure sitting hunched in a chair. “My Jarl? What do you mean conscript?”  
Jarl Balgruuf lets out a long sigh. “We had decided the dragonborn was too important a player in this to be able to roam free of oversight.”  
The pieces started falling into place, Farengar’s burned face, the destroyed door, Delphine’s presence…  
“My Jarl… Why have you done this? Why did you not consult me? As your housecarl, it is my purpose to advise you on matters such as these.” I say.  
Jarl Balgruuf looks up to meet my eyes. “A dragon attacked Windhelm Irileth. We learned not even an hour ago. The city may never recover.”  
The news causes me to freeze. One of the beasts attacked a city? Divines.  
“Do we know how many survived the attack?” I ask, still in a daze.  
The Jarl shakes his head. “Our runner did not even make it to the city. He took one look at the attack and fled. I wish he had stayed to learn more, but I cannot say I blame him for fleeing. We would not have what little information we do possess without his actions. I have already ordered a small detail of guards to make their way to the city and learn more, but they have only just left. They will not return for some time.”  
Silence falls over the room for a brief moment before Delphine breaks it.  
“You said we had to wait.” she growls at the Jarl. “You said we could not afford to treat this threat accordingly with the war going on. Well the war is now effectively over. Without Windhelm the stormcloaks are through, and it was a dragon that did that. Not the Imperials, a dragon. We needed to act before something like this happened! Now we are caught flat footed and are unable to react at all, and our one chance to defeat the things just fled from us!”  
The Jarl’s face hardens as he stands and glares at Delphine. “Hold your tongue Delphine. It was your and Farengar’s treatment of the dragonborn that caused them to believe violence was their only option! You pressed them from the very start without giving them a moment to breathe! Farengar all but threatened to enslave the both of them! We should be grateful we are still living, for if I was treated as we treated them, I would return with an army at my back!”  
“My Jarl,” I cut in before this madness can continue. “We need to know what to do next. What preparations must we make to prepare for a dragon to attack us here?”  
The Jarl takes in a long breath before releasing it. “Our greatest folly with the dragonborn was acting much too quickly and relying on the shock of our news in the hopes to manipulate her. We gave her and her companion no time to breath, so that ends now. Let every guard in the city know of what has happened, and tell them to spread the news. We must coordinate with the Companions as well. Because of the losses we suffered during the fight at the northern watchtower, we lack the manpower we need. We must join forces to protect and patrol the city. Order every blacksmith we have to work overtime. We need armor, arrows, spears, anything we can use to defend the city. Delphine, you take care of this.”  
Delphine looks to the Jarl. “I need to find the dragonborn. We need to drag her back here before we do anything else.”  
“That way of thinking is exactly why you and Farengar are never to interact with her again.” The Jarl replies coldly. “As of now, we should consider ourselves lucky if the dragonborn and her companion do not view us as enemies. From their perspective, we attempted to enslave them. My word of honor meant nothing to either of them when given. They are not of Skyrim. It is very likely they believed my words to be nothing but empty platitudes. All they will remember of our exchange are your’s and Farengar’s threats. You will not be allowed anywhere near the dragonborn. Now leave and complete the tasks I set out for you.” The Jarl dismisses her.  
Delphine looks like she wants to argue but holds her tongue and leaves the room.  
Once she leaves, the Jarl lets out a long sigh and collapses back into his chair. “I have made a tremendous mistake here today Irileth.” He says.  
“From what I have gathered? Yes. You did my Jarl.” I respond.  
The Jarl looks off into nothing. “Not a week ago we celebrated the death of a dragon. A dragon Irileth. We had the dragonborn of legend staying in our city, watched over by the guards to ensure she was treated well, and we were well on our way to combating this threat. Now, Windhelm may as well be gone, and we have alienated our best chance of ensuring Whiterun does not befall the same fate. I don’t know what to do.” he finishes softly.  
“I do not have any answers my Jarl, but we must do everything we can to defend our hold.”  
The Jarl gives a weak chuckle. “I said those very words not moments before the dragonborn fled.” he turns to face me. “I need you to fix my mistake. Speak with the guards I had watching over the dragonborn and her companion. Speak with the companions. Find any place where they might decide to travel to. Their original destination was Winterhold, but I believe they will now avoid it if at all possible.”  
“Because of Windhelm?” I question.  
The Jarl shakes his head. “Because of the dragonborn’s companion. I learned quite a bit about him today. He was a mystery. Farengar was convinced he was a charlatan, claiming to be a powerful mage, when instead he only had a few minor parlor tricks. Yet he was able to lead the dragonborn through my men as if they weren’t there, as well as scar my court wizard in a battle of magic. Magic which Farengar believed him to be incapable of. He strikes me as an overly cautious man. Only revealing his hand when it is needed, and holding his true hand in his sleeve for the entire game if at all possible. He won’t go to Winterhold if he thinks we would follow them there. Which means we do not know where they are going. A problem we need to remedy immediately.”  
“I will see it done my Jarl.” I reply and bow before walking out.  
“Irileth.” I turn back to face him. “If you are able to find them, approach them as a friend. We cannot risk them running again.”  
“Of course my lord.” I walk from the room and head towards the guard barracks to interview the men who were watching the dragonborn and her companion.  
What a fucking mess.


	7. 7

I run for around 8 minutes, weaving this way and that, around the city and through forests to throw off anything that could track us, before I start to feel the strain from using Godspeed. Feeling that we have made sufficient ground, I deactivate Godspeed and come to a stop in a lightly forested area. No snow yet that I can see, but the air is crisp so we’re definitely getting further north. I gently place Svarline down and hold my arms under hers in case she gets dizzy.  
Svarline stands tall for a moment, then bends over and empties her stomach onto the ground. I hold her hair back as she gets sick and look her over to make sure she’s ok.  
She’s obviously queasy, but other than that, and a little shaking from the cold, she seems fine.  
Once she’s done, I give her a wineskin I inventoried to wash her mouth out as I cast a few Heals on her just in case.  
“You ok?” I ask after she’d had a moment.  
She nods and sits down heavily. “I’m fine. You did warn me something could happen. Just promise me we only do that again if we absolutely have to?”  
I nod. “Don’t worry. I’ll only subject you to that if we find ourselves in another situation like the one we just left.” I sit down next to her, and we fall into silence for a moment.  
Soooooo, that fucking happened.  
I really need to learn my lesson about relying too much on meta knowledge. It’s useless for anything that is not concrete fact.  
Farengar.... Ok I should have seen that coming. He was an arrogant ass in the game too, but Delphine?! She practically worships the ground you walk on! What the hell lady?!  
I don’t know how the hell to react to this! Do I nuke Whiterun? Do I not nuke Whiterun? Do I apologize?  
No. Fuck that, I don’t apologize. So nuking? I am so fucking lost right now.  
I look back over at Svarline and see she is starting to freak out.  
“We need to talk.” I say, breaking the silence, hoping to help her out a little.  
Svarline nods and looks to the ground. “I messed up. Didn’t I?” she asks and looks back at me.  
I look over at her confused. I go back over events and realize that she did strike first. Personally I think she was completely justified but this is bugging her. She did lose her cool there at the end. Is that what’s bugging her?  
“No.” I start. “They were way out of line. I get why they were so desperate, but if you hadn’t acted, and they had kept pressing, I probably would have attacked them instead of you. The only logical person in that room was Balgruuf, and frankly, I lost most of the respect I had for the man. I wasn’t willing to subject myself, or you, to whatever half-cocked scheme they had come up with. Farengar might as well have said they were going to chain you a cart and wheel you to various dead dragons.” Svar’s eyes harden at the mental picture. “While the situation definitely could have been handled better, you're not the one in the wrong.”  
Svar noticeably sags in relief at my words.  
“That being said,” I say, causing her to tense up once more. “something’s obviously bugging you. Does it have anything to do with when you lost control?”  
Svar nods and looks back to the ground and mutters, “I’m sorry.”  
I sigh and rub my head. “Don’t apologize. Like I said, had it gone any longer I would have acted. It probably would have been a lot more destructive too, but we do need to figure out a way to help you get over whatever this is.”  
Svar looks back to me. “You’re not going to ask?”  
I shake my head. “Am I curious? Yes, but I respect your privacy. If you can work this out yourself? Fine. If you want to talk about it though, I’m willing to listen.”  
We lapse back into silence when I finish speaking.   
I take the time to look up to the sky. The sun is not quite halfway to its apex, so we have over half the day to figure out where to go from here.  
Man things went to hell real quick. An hour ago we were on our way to Winterhold. Now we are probably wanted in Whiterun for attempting to assassinate the Jarl. Without knowing if crime is tracked here like it is in the game, we can’t really risk going to any major settlements. We’re also probably going to have to watch out for bounty hunters.  
There’s also the fact that I’m probably going to have to kill Delphine and Farengar now. I made the mistake of thinking this Delphine was like the one in the game. That won’t happen again. The last thing I need is those two working against me, so I need to take the both of them out as soon as I can.   
God I am in no way prepared for this.  
“I don’t like being used.” Svarline’s timid voice breaks me from my train of thought. “Delphine outright said she was going to use the dragonborn. It got harder to think clearly after that.”  
“Sounds like there’s some history there.” I try to gently probe.  
Svarline nods and looks up to the sky. “I didn’t really have many friends growing up. Honestly it was mostly my fault. My mother was the best alteration mage in Bruma, and I was obsessed with being just like her.” She smiles sadly.  
“Every spare moment I had was spent learning from her and my older sister Grossi. My mom taught me alteration magic, and my sister taught me what restoration magic she was learning from the temple. It went on like that for quite some time. I didn’t have a lot of friends because I was never really in a position to meet anyone.”   
Svar pauses and looks down at her hands. “Three years or so worth of learning later, and I meet a girl in the market one day. She was really nice, and introduced herself as Fiale. Fiale became the first friend I ever had. We hung around each other for a few months before she introduced me to her family. She was the daughter of some pretty well known jewelers in the city. My mother had brought me around them once or twice, but I didn’t really know them that well. Fiale had me show them some of the alteration tricks I had shown her, and they were pretty impressed. I would turn wood to gold, and river stones into sapphires. It took me awhile, and was pretty exhausting, but my friend liked it. So everyday I would go over to her house, and we’d talk for a little while before I would show off my magic some more.” Svar stands up and walks over to a nearby tree. Sitting down and leaning against it.  
I get up and sit down next to her.  
“I lost track of how the time passed.” She continues her story. “I was just happy that I finally had a friend really. We would spend every moment together. I would teach her minor cantrips, and she would show me how to appraise the gems her family sold.”   
She looks off into nothing as she continues. “Fiale and I had been friends for roughly a year when I walked over to her house one day and no one was home. I got a little worried, because normally at least her mother would be home unless she was at the market, but Fiale and I would typically go with her if that was the case. So I used my magic to open the lock. When I got inside, the place was empty. All of the larger and heavier things were still there, but Fiale’s room and her parent’s study were empty of all their belongings. I searched the house for around an hour before I began walking home, and wondered if they had maybe moved without letting me know. I was halfway back when I heard a large amount of yelling coming from the town square. I walked over to see what everyone was so excited about and saw a pair of headsman’s blocks. Someone was getting executed. I hadn’t heard of any trials so whoever this was must have done something terrible to be killed so quickly.”  
Tears start to fall from Svar’s eyes and she leans heavily against me.  
“I stood there waiting with everyone else to see who it was, and what they had done to deserve this. The captain of the guard walked out and read the charges. Whoever it was was guilty of manipulating the markets using magical means, which explains why there wasn’t a large trial. Magic was heavily regulated to begin with, but when someone used it to illegally fill their coffers the penalty was death. The captain went on to say how the accused magically altered various substances into precious metals and gems and used said materials to make substantial amounts of gold. Oversaturating the market and making certain metals and stones all but worthless. Putting some smiths and jewelers out of business. I thought maybe that was what happened to Fiale. Her parents were run out of business by whoever they were executing.”  
Svarline chokes up as she continues to tell her tale.  
“The captain called for the prisoners to be brought out and all of a sudden I couldn’t breath. The headsman brought my mother and sister out from the prison in chains. I couldn’t believe it. I knew my mother would never do that. It was the first thing she taught me! I was going to run forward and tell the guards how they had to be wrong, but I suddenly couldn't move. I looked at my mom and saw her eyes on me. She shook her head at me and her and Grossi were put up against the blocks. Grossi was terrified. She wouldn’t stop shaking. I tried to yell, to tell them that she was a healer. That all she ever wanted was to help people, but my voice just wouldn’t work!”  
Svarline is bawling at this point and I’ve put an arm around her to steady her.  
“I had to watch!” She cries. “I couldn’t do anything! I had to watch them kill my mother and my sister for something they didn’t do! I couldn’t even scream!”  
I pull Svarline into a hug and she cries into my shoulder. Sobs wracking her entire body. I just hold her and let her get it out.  
She gets herself under control and quietly continues. “I could move again the second my mom’s head landed in the basket, but I was too shocked to, so I just stood there and stared.”  
She pauses for a second before continuing. “Eventually I got myself under control and realised I needed to leave. I went back to Fiale’s house to hide. The guards would be looking for me as an accomplice. I couldn’t go home because they would have been waiting there, wanting to kill me too, and I didn’t have any other friends who could help me.”   
Svarline leans into my damp shoulder as she continues.  
“When I got back to Fiale’s house, I locked myself in her parents' study and cried. I don’t know how long I stayed there, but when I got up, I saw a small blue stone on the desk. I picked it up and saw it for what it was. It was one of the stones I would change into gems for Fiale and her parents.”  
Svarline’s face contorts in rage as she finishes her sentence.  
“I realized exactly what happened in that moment. I got my family killed. I killed Grossi, I killed mother. All because of fucking Fiale.” Svarline growls the name.  
“Her entire fucking family used me! They killed my family.” Svar’s eyes adopt a fire I’ve never seen from her as she continues. “I spent the rest of the day going through their entire house. I tore everything apart looking for any hint of where they went. In the end, I used a little alteration trick my mother taught me to send one of their belongings back to them. I followed that stupid little doll for days. I barely ate, I barely slept. I was too focused on making them pay.”  
Where before Svarline was trembling with uncontrolled grief, she is now shaking in uncontrolled rage as she continues her story.  
“I followed the doll until it came to a small farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, and I saw Fiale’s father feeding the chickens. I waited until night before sneaking into the house. I used my magic to bypass the lock and snooped around. They had chests of gold in the cellar. Letters of credit falling out of the drawers. They killed my family so they could get rich.”  
Svar’s eyes glaze over.  
“I killed them Dusk.” she says emotionlessly. “I stuffed a water soaked rag into Fiale’s mouth so her parents wouldn’t hear her screams when I turned her bed into spikes and slowly pushed her down into it. I turned her parents room’s walls into straw and dropped the roof on them.”  
Svar moves away from me then turns and looks into my eyes.  
“I killed all three of them Dusk.” She says. “And I enjoyed it. They killed my family. They got what they deserved.”  
I looked back at her without speaking. I had no idea what to say.  
Svar looks out into the forest. “I’ve been on the run since that night. I had to keep away from the guards and bounty hunters trying to collect on a murderer. I didn’t care though. When they found the bodies, they found the money. Everyone learned what had happened, and my mother’s and sister’s names were cleared. That was all that mattered.”  
Svarline looks down to her hands. “I’m not sure how long I was running. It’s been so long, the days have just sort of blended together. I travelled around getting stronger. I would travel with different groups. It was really nice having comrades to share burdens with.” Svar’s voice becomes detached. “That is until they got killed by whatever beast or bandit happened to do them in. It seemed like everyone I traveled with would die sooner or later. Eventually I just stopped trying. Went my own way.  
“I would avoid towns and seek out anyone who could teach me more magic. Learning whatever spells anyone was willing to teach me.”  
She lets out a self-deprecating laugh. “It’s ironic. My magic is what got my family killed, but once they were gone, it was all I had left. My life became a tale of wandering from place to place, and learning what I could. All the while keeping away from those who would come after me.”  
She sighs and leans back against the tree. “I did quite a bit. I would help some people, screw over others. I just did whatever the hell I wanted. Knowing sooner or later someone would catch up and kill me. I don’t want to go out with any regrets.”  
She gives a light chuckle and continues. “Anyway, I decided Skyrim would be a good place to lay low, but got caught crossing the border. You know the rest.”  
I say nothing for a very long time. Svarline seems content to let the silence last.  
Eventually, I say, “Your mother… What was her name?”  
Svar looks at me and simply says, “Jofta. Her name was Jofta.”  
“I’m sorry Svarline.”  
She shrugs. “Thanks, but that doesn’t really change anything does it?”  
“No. I guess it doesn’t.” I say back and we fall into a short silence once more.  
I break it by asking, “Why are you hanging around with me?”  
Svar looks at me confused. “What do you mean?” she asks.  
“Your story.” I say. “You haven’t really had the best experiences with letting people close, so why do you seem so comfortable around me?” I ask.  
Svarline looks at me. “Are you going to stab me in the back?” She asks.  
“No.” I answer.  
She smiles. “I know. Not sure how, but I do. You’re also strong enough to not die on me. I’ve kept people at arm's reach because whenever I got travelling companions, they’d all die and leave me alone again. I got over my trust issues after the second group got eaten by those werewolves. Realized life’s too short to let my baggage rule my life. Besides, if anyone fucked me over that badly again, I would just deal with them the same way I dealt with Fiale. The way we’re going to deal with Delphine.” She snarls as she says the name.  
Svar looks at me. “Besides, you’re the first person besides my family who didn’t immediately see me as something to use.”  
I stand up and walk a little further away from her. Now feeling guilty, I look down and say, “But I did.”  
Svarline tenses and looks over at me.  
“Helgen.” I said looking back at her. “I knew I was likely going to die when that dragon burned the place down. I used you and Ralof to get myself out in one piece. My plan was literally to hide behind the two of you. I wasn’t focused on anything but getting my ass out alive. You were a convenient way to do that.” I say honestly.  
Svarline looks at me for a moment without speaking. Eventually she asks, “And now? Are you using me now?”  
I shake my head. “To be honest, I actually had to ask myself why I hadn’t left you yet.” Svarline is completely focused on my words. “I asked myself if I wanted ‘The Great Dragonborn of Legend’ to have my back, but I laughed that off almost instantly.”  
Svarline looks confused.  
I stare at her. “I wasn’t kidding when I said trouble will be glued to your ass. Hell look at what happened today.” Svarline winces. “I realized that hanging around the dragonborn was pretty damn likely to get me killed, so, given that I like being alive, I knew that wasn’t the reason.”  
“Then why are you still here?” Svar asks. “I just told you I killed the only friend I’ve ever had. Not only that, but I enjoyed it. Why are you still here?” Her voice starts to slowly pick up as she walks closer. “I’m the ‘Great Dragonborn of Legend’, destined to get you killed. People will be after you for attempted regicide because of me! Just like me, you can’t stay in any place for too long now. They’ll hunt you down like a dog! You have so many options to get away. To run on your own in a way they will never be able to catch! You are literally as fast as lightning, and can freaking teleport! So. Why. Are. You. Here?!?!” She yells, standing not a foot away as she glares at me.  
I look her in the eyes and say, “Because I’m lonely.”  
Svarline clearly wasn’t expecting that answer, as her anger bleeds away and her jaw hangs open.  
I shrug. “I’ve never had a lot of friends either, and while I haven’t been scarred nearly as badly as you have, the few I did have left me for various reasons. It’s been awhile since I was able to enjoy being around someone, and I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed hanging around with you.”  
Svarline doesn’t respond. Instead thinking over what I just said.  
“Look,” I say. “I’ve pissed you off, I get that. You want to part ways here? Ok. You’ve been on your own long enough that you obviously know how to take care of yourself, and I’m strong enough to figure something out. If you want me gone? Fine. I’m gone. Personally? I’d like to stick together, and see what happens. Who knows? We might be able to kill the big bad dragon if we stay together.”  
Svarline doesn’t hesitate before responding. “Good.” She says, and begins walking away from me.  
I try very hard not to feel too disappointed to see her turn her back and walk off.  
I fail.  
I sigh and say, “It’s been a genuine pleasure. Best of luck Svarline.”  
Svarline stops and turns to face me. “What? We have one little fight and I’m Svarline. No. You’re going to call me Svar, and you’re going to like it. You aren’t getting rid of me that easily Dusk.” She walks forwards a little more and picks her backpack up from where it was laying on the ground. “So now that we’ve got that delightful little talk out of the way, what are we doing, and where are we going?”  
I smile at her before placing a hand on my chin to ponder her question. “I don’t know.” I reply. “We need to get those assholes in Whiterun back at some point, but for now we should lay low. We shouldn't head to any major settlements until either things calm down, or we work out a convincing way to disguise ourselves. Do you know of anywhere we could go?”  
“Not a damn clue.” She replies. “You’re the one who pulls daedric artifacts out of his ass. If either of us would have a place to lay low it would be you.”  
She seems a lot more relaxed. This talk was good for her.  
Let’s see, places we could lay low. Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild are out because I don’t want to deal with them. Ever, if at all possible. I really want to avoid drawing the attention of the organizations respective deities whose names I will not speak for fear of the possibility that their utterance will grant said beings a modicum of control over me. Seriously those two are terrifying in the lore. Lucifer freaking Morningstar levels of run away in terror. I want nothing to do with that. Dawnstar sanctuary is out for the same reason.   
We need somewhere close that not a lot of people will think to look.  
Hang on a sec, where in Oblivion are we? I didn’t really watch where I was going while running did I?  
“Hey Svar?” I say. “You still got that map of the province?”  
She nods and pulls it from her bag.  
We both look it over, and my eyes are instantly drawn to a small forested area a couple dozen miles north of Whiterun.  
Well that was fast. Woodsmen perk for the win!  
“We’re here.” I point our location out to Svar.  
“How do you know?” she asks.  
“I pulled a daedric artifact out of my ass.” I answer.  
“It was one of Sanguine’s wasn’t it?” She asks with a grin.  
“Nope. We are avoiding good ol’ Sam for as long as is physically possible.”  
“Don’t you mean San?” She asks, confused.  
“Nope.”   
Shaking her head, she turns back to the map. “I don’t know what you’re looking for here. All it shows is rivers, mountains, and cities. You’d have to be a legend to make any sense of it.”  
I turn my head to look at her but she avoids my gaze and innocently studies the map. I see the corner of her mouth pull up though, giving her away.  
Ignoring her jokes I study the map a little closer. “I’m not looking for anything specific. Just areas close to us where we might be able to lay low.”  
Svar turns to me. “Got anything.”  
I do some quick math in my head to gauge the distance. “I have one really good place in mind, but it’s too far.” If we were closer to Markarth, Sky Haven would have been perfect. Given where we are though, it would take too long to get there.  
“Where is it, and what is it?” Svar asks.  
“Answering in reverse, an ancient forgotten temple hidden inside a mountain that only a dragonborn can access. As for where, stone’s throw from Markarth. It would take us too long to get there.”  
Svarline looks at me for a moment. As if she’s trying to decide whether or not I’m bullshitting her. Seemingly come to a decision, she asks. “Couldn’t you just run us there with your lightning? We should be able to make it there in no time travelling like that.”  
I shake my head. “I’ve already pushed it too far. I can still use it, but if I push it again I’ll be unable to cast it for a week.”  
“What about teleporting?” she asks.  
“Draws too much attention. You will by now have noticed the large booming sound and flash of bright light that accompany the use of that spell. We’re trying to lay low here, not send up a flashing ‘Kill Us Here!’ sign.”  
She lets out a huff. “So that option is out. Anything else you got?”  
I look over the map and imagine all of the destinations I memorized over various playthroughs. Everything I can think of is either populated by bandits, draugr, or worse. The Forgotten Vale would be another really good place to hide, but again, we’re too far.   
Wait. Dawnguard.   
I look back at the map and see the forest we are standing in is a little less than half the way to Dawnstar.  
So the idea is valid. Do I really want to tangle with this so early though? Thinking it over, if we go before the Hall of the Vigilant gets sacked then there shouldn’t be any master vampires. On the other hand, Windhelm shouldn’t have been attacked and we should be walking up High Hrothgar right now. I’ll ask Svar’s input.  
“Svar?” I grab her attention. “How would you feel about diving headfirst into an ancient tomb forgotten by time that has remained undisturbed since before Cyrodiil was the seat of the Empire?”  
She gives me another analyzing look. Trying once more to determine if I’m being serious. “Will we be safe hiding there?”  
“Probably?” I say unconvincingly. “I know what could be there, and it’s really bad, but it shouldn’t be. Not yet at least.”  
Svar stares at me. “You really aren’t filling me with confidence, you know that?”  
I shrug. “Daedric artifact ass pulling is an imperfect science.”  
Svar ignores me and says, “So either we run all the way to Markarth to unlock the secret dragonborn hideaway or we head to a tomb that time forgot about and maybe get killed and eaten by whatever monstrosities may be there?”  
I nod. “Those are the options, yes.”  
Svar just stares at me for a solid five seconds. “One of these days you’re going to tell me how you know all this stuff. Let’s just go to the tomb.”  
“Alrighty then. Follow me.” I begin walking towards the Dimhollow Crypt. “So,” I say to Svar as we walk. “why aren’t you pressing me for details on how I know all this.”  
“I trust you.” she says. “If I need to know something, you’ll tell me.”  
“Awful lot of trust for someone you met a week ago.”  
“Not someone I met a week ago. My friend.”  
Huh, I kinda like that.  
We lapse back into silence as we continue walking along.

On our way, we fight off a number of wolves, bears, and even a few trolls because of my flaw.   
We even got jumped by our first pair of bandits!

Bandit  
Level- 7  
HP- 350

“Give us all your valuables if you want to live!”  
There’s only two of them. I’ve checked around, and they don’t have any backup. Are these guys stupid? That is the shittiest knife I have ever seen. Did they not see our expensive armor?  
“Guys.” I say. “I’m a nice guy. So I’m going to give you a chance to live. All you have to do is tell me what was going through your mind when you attacked us. I’m legitimately curious.”  
“Last chance! Give us your goods or we cut you!”  
Dude. If there were a Darwin award in Tamriel you would have just won it.  
I turn to Svar. “You want this or should I handle it?”  
She’s chewing on a piece of dried beef and waving me in their direction. “You do it. I’m busy.”  
“Ok.”   
Two lightning bolts later and there are two very dead bandits at my feet. On a hunch, I try to inventory the more intact body. It disappears and I feel it in my inventory. Neat.  
Svar looks over curiously. “What’s the body for?”  
“We may or may not have to appease a slumbering vampire who might be extremely thirsty. It’s much easier to do that with blood that isn’t your own.”  
Giving me another look, Svar sighs and we continue on.  
As we continued walking, Mr. Rogers happily trotted along at our side with a dead bird hanging from his mouth. Not sure where he got that, but I didn’t really care enough to ask. Could he even answer? He is pretty smart. Eh, it’s not important.  
We’d been walking long enough for the sun to begin to descend from the sky when my sixth sense triggered an urgent warning.  
I grabbed Svar on the shoulder and we teleported 100 feet to the right. I looked back to the place we left in time to watch it light up a brilliant blue. A resounding *BOOM* echoed out through the woods.  
I felt Mr. Rogers dissipate as Svar pulled Ascalon from its sheath, and we both heard a great rushing of air. Followed by a mighty roar.  
“Dovahkiin!” a thundering voice greeted us. “I challenge you!” The now visible blue scaled dragon roared as it landed in the space we were just standing.

LIIVHAHFIIK  
Withering. Mind. Mirror.  
Level- ???  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thought about you- ???

Great! Just what we needed! A freaking surprise lightning dragon. Because why the hell not?!?!  
Svarline steps forward sporting a very wide grin. “Are you the one that attacked Windhelm?” she called to the beast.  
The dragon released large rhythmic gusts of air. Was that a chuckle?  
“No. Your human dwelling was attacked by one of my brothers, Dovahkiin. One you will never meet.” Having said its piece, the dragon shouted out at us. Unleashing a cone of sparking energy.   
I turned myself into electricity and ran in front of Svar. I began throwing my magic into the oncoming thu’um in an attempt to divert it.   
Svar saw what I was attempting and dodged the other direction.  
The wave was directed far enough that it missed her, but it still connected with me.

-364 HP

That was with my absurd lightning resistance. This guy’s no joke.  
“You are an interesting one.” The dragon breathed out as it tilted its head to study me. “I might keep you as a pet.”  
A shout drew both of our attention as a silver colored mass impacted the dragon from the side.  
A very fast, Svar shaped mass of steel had charged forward and embedded Ascalon into the creature. The holy sword having no trouble bypassing the ironhard scales.  
The dragon howled in pain and began to take off. Flapping its massive wings and tearing up the landscape.  
I unleashed a torrent of lightning into the creature’s stomach, but it just laughed at me.  
“Just as you are unhurt by my energy, I am unhurt by your storm small thing.” the dragon taunted as it continued to climb.  
Svar had pulled Ascalon free and was trying to get in another swing, but the dragon had already exited her range. We wouldn’t be able to beat it unless we could somehow bring it down.  
Working on a hunch, I pulled Yamato from my inventory. I unleash slash after ranged slash aimed towards the dragon’s wings. I see the hits connect, and deep gashes are opened up with every hit, but the blade does not sever the limb with a single strike.  
Well shit. There goes that idea.  
I replace Yamato in my inventory and run over to Svar.  
Her skin has been turned to solid steel. Making her look like a small golem. Her alteration magic most likely.  
“I can’t bring it down.” I tell her quickly. “It’s resistant to my magic and Yamato doesn’t work. What have you got?”  
“Keep it distracted and give me an opening.” she says before sprinting after the flying dragon at an impressive speed. That Ascalon buff is no joke.  
I activate Godspeed and immediately feel the strain. I ignore it and sprint after the dragon.  
Once more I’m grateful for the extreme hubris of dragons. The beast lazily circles the air as it watches us run around beneath it in amusement.  
I arrive directly underneath it and cast a shaped electric half-sphere over the top of the dragon and slightly to its front. The dragon collides with the sphere and is forced downward by the spell’s repulsion effect, having not expected the spell and being unable to brace itself in midair. The damage it does is surely negligible but that wasn’t its purpose.  
I keep casting the spell to force the dragon closer and closer to the ground.  
Once it is around fifty feet up the dragon finds a weakness in the spell.  
By using his electrical shout, the dragon floods the spell for a brief moment allowing it to cleanly escape.  
Having foiled my strategy the dragon lets out a deep laugh, and turns to fly straight for me.  
“You are most clever small thing. I think I will keep you.” The dragon barreled towards me and my sixth sense screamed at me to move.  
I teleport away just as the dragon loses a torrent of fire in the space I once occupied.  
Using godspeed I sprint back under the lowered dragon and wrap electrical chains around its leg. I connect the chain to a tree and pull against it in the hopes of grounding it.  
The dragon pulls the chain taut and is caught for a moment, before it kicks its leg forward. Pulling the tree from the soil and the chain from my hands. The chain dissipates into nothing short moments later, dropping the tree from the sky.  
Well that didn’t freaking work.  
The dragon comes around towards me again and releases a bout of frost this time. I use Godspeed to dash away and immediately fall over in pain.  
I roll a good thirty feet as Godspeed expires on its own and I’m left in a heap on the ground.

You have overused Godspeed!  
Godspeed unavailable for 1 week!

This had to happen now?!?!  
I stand up in time to feel another warning from my sixth sense screaming at me to move.  
I try to teleport but I’m engulfed in a wave of flame as the dragon passes over me once more.

-1803 HP

I collapse and scream as the dragonfire washes over me.  
I hear more laughter as my sixth sense activates again. I’m once more too slow to teleport as I’m hit by the dragon's tail as it swoops down on top of me.

-889 HP

The strike sends me flying through the air, and I roll to a stop in a heap once more.  
Gritting my teeth. I put my feet under me and stood up as I cast Lightning Form once more.  
My sixth sense tells me of an incoming attack from the rear, and this time I’m fast enough to get away. I teleport up to the top of a nearby tree as the dragon slashes its claws through the ground where I once stood.   
The beast begins to rise back into the air and away but I jump down from my perch onto its back with twin Chidoris and dig my hand into its scales.  
The spell grinds noticeably slower than it did when fighting Mirmulnir, but it is still enough to give me a grip as the dragon starts to fly higher.  
This was such a stupid idea! What the hell was I thinking!  
The dragon laughs out even as my hands grind past his scales.  
“You wish for a ride small one? Then let us ride!” The dragon cries.  
The dragon slowly rolls in the air so that I’m now between it and the ground, and the dragon starts to descend.   
Oh shit.  
The dragon laughs maniacally as I try to pull my hands free, but the ground closes to meet us before I’m able. Crushing my electric form between a dragon and a hard place.  
Redistribution! All SP to HP now!

HP Restored to 3765!

-3251 HP

With no space in between the ground and the dragon my form can’t maneuver out and I take the full impact.   
This is so bad.  
I reach my arm out and greater teleport away but the dragon laughs off the damage as it leisurely rolls over.  
“Aw, that was fun pet! Shall we try again?” the dragon taunts as it rights itself.  
I cannot take another hit like that. I’m honestly surprised I’m alive right now.  
It spreads its wings to take to the sky once more, but is interrupted by a very close shout.  
“FEIM!” Svar yells as she jumps towards the dragon, turning incorporeal mid-way to the dragon.  
The dragon tries to move out of the way but Svar is too fast as she phases right through the dragon’s scales and doesn’t come out the other side.  
She just Tale of Jonah’d a freaking dragon.  
The dragon starts writhing and screaming in agony. Shouting this way and that, clawing at its stomach and whimpering in pain.  
I cower far away from the massive creature and rapidly cast Heal on myself to try to recover my hitpoints.  
The dragon howls out once more, before falling to the ground unmoving. Its scales and flesh begin to melt off and implode inwards as Svar begins to absorb the dragon’s power while still within the beast.  
A quick lightshow later leaves the skeletal remains of what was once a dragon with a metal woman standing within the rib cage, dripping viscera.  
Svar cuts out once more with a gore covered Ascalon and one of the ribs falls free. She steps through the opening and drags herself over to me. Her steel form dissipates and she is back to being her normal self.  
“Took you long enough.” I say as I continue to spam Heal.  
“You ok?” she asks.  
“I will be when the pain stops. You?”  
She looks down at her fist. “Ya. I’m great.” she finishes with a smile.

You Leveled up x2  
For killing an enemy over 100 level higher than you, you level up an additional 5 times!  
Gain +70 stat points!

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 111  
Class- Saber - LVL 12/100 [6%]  
Crafting Class- Blacksmith LVL 9/50 [63%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 4395 [1172 per minute]  
MP- 12120 [2424 per minute]  
SP- 4395 [1172 per minute]  
STR- 289  
END- 293  
DEX - 324  
INT - 606  
WIS - 606  
CHA - 260  
LUK - 264  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 4  
SP/HP= END x 15

Oh screw you too martially inept! I got like 60 levels from the last one! Then again I do have insane magic EXP, whereas my martial EXP gain is in the negatives. Oh well, I’m alive. How’s Svar looking?

Svarline The Dragonborn of Legend  
The Last Dragonborn  
Level- 97  
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)  
HP- 5984  
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)  
\- Soul Devouring(When absorbing a dragon soul, if the dragonborn dealt the killing blow, the dragonborn steals more than the dragon's knowledge. Siphoning the dead beasts strength and power for their own. Can be used to obtain a number of benefits.)  
Thoughts about you- She thought you died when you were crushed. She is very happy she was wrong.

Svar kneels down next to me and begins to help me heal myself.   
Once I have enough hitpoints to be safe from strong winds, she pulls me into a hug.  
“I’m sorry.” she says into my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to take so long. I didn’t have an opening, and then the dragon fell, and you were under it, and I…”  
“Shh.” I cut her off. “It’s ok.”  
We sit there and hold each other covered in gore. A skeletal dragon corpse in the background.  
I smile and break the silence. “It’s ok. Next time though? Try to avoid dragon your ass.”  
Svar freezes for a moment and looks up into my smiling face, before we both lose it and fall over laughing.  
“I’m such a good influence on you.” she says as we pull ourselves together.  
I chuckle. “Good, right. That’s definitely the word I would use.”  
We stand up and Svar casts a spell which removes the blood and guts from our hair, skin and armor. Now clean, we make our way over to the dead dragon.  
I summon Mr. Rogers and pat him on the head.  
“I’m sorry I couldn’t teleport you bud. I didn’t have enough time to reach out and grab both of you.”  
His ears droop and he nods his head.  
“I’ll tell you what though!” Mr. Rogers perks back up. “You can pick any bone you want and I’ll store it for you.”  
The dog pants happily and trots over to the pile of bones.  
“You spoil him.” Svar says from the side.  
I scoff. “I don’t spoil him. I just give him everything he deserves, being the perfect pup he is.”   
Mr. Rogers comes to a stop and sits down next to a bone before placing his paw on it and panting at me.  
Svar falls over laughing again as Mr. Rogers selects the dragon’s skull as his new chew toy.  
“Ummm, not that I have a problem with it boy, but can you even chew that?” I ask him.  
Mr. Rogers nods and walks over to the side of the bone. He opens his mouth and goes to chew but his jaws get stuck as his mouth fails to fit around the side of the head. He wags his tail at me and playfully growls.  
I shrug. “Alright then.” I inventory the skull and Mr. Rogers happily picks up a small piece of the dragon’s tail to chew on while we walk.  
I inventory the rest of the dragon’s larger bones for when I start crafting. Eventually. I really need to get around to that. My ingredients aren’t done growing yet though, and I need to make sure I have enchantments to make the potions stronger to make the enchantments on the next set stronger so I can maximize the amount of yield I can get out of each ingredient and material because I would really hate to waste…..  
“How much further to that place you know?” Svarline interrupts my mad scientist train of thought.  
I pull the map out and check. “We can be there before nightfall.”   
“Good. I want to go to sleep.”  
The three of us continue on, leaving a dead dragon in our wake.  
Shortly before nightfall, we crest a hill and see various robed figures moving around a small wood and straw building.  
Good, the Vigilants are still alive. We’ve got time.  
I hope.  
I’m going to assume metaknowledge is wrong and hope it isn’t. I have learned my lesson.  
I lead Svar around the hall so as not to be noticed and before long we come to a cave entrance.  
“This is it?” Svar asks.  
“Yep.” I reply.  
“This is very ominous.”   
“Yep.”  
“You’re going first.”  
“Ye… wait what?”  
“Too late!.”  
Svar grabs my shoulders and shoves me through.  
AHHHHHHH!!! COME GET SOME YOU DAMN… they’re not here.  
“It’s clear. Also screw you.” I say over my shoulder.  
Svar chuckles as she and Mr. Rogers walk in behind me.  
Svar takes a look around the interior. “Remember when I said the entrance was ominous? I was wrong. That gate is ominous. What do you think’s back there?”  
“A horde of undead, more undead, even more undead, a vampire that has been asleep since this place was made who has an Elder Scroll strapped to her back, animated gargoyles, an even bigger undead horde, a word in the dragon language, and some nice flowers.” I list off.  
Svar gives me the look again.  
“We’re totally exploring that tomorrow.” She says before wandering off to find a comfortable place to sleep.  
The three of us snuggle up under travel blankets in the building with the lever, given that it was the only place free of mud, and fall asleep.

(Interlude: Hulda)

I’m finishing up a batch of smoked fish in the yard when I hear someone calling for me from inside.  
Divine’s saggy tits who wants what now?  
I close up the smoker and walk back into the inn.  
“Can I help you?” I ask the two town’s guard who are rifling around behind my counter.  
Saadia looks over to me and says, “These two louts barged in and said we’re being closed down! What in Oblivion is going on?”  
All joviality bled from my already crappy mood, I turn to face the guards. “Care to explain what I’ve done that deserves this response?”  
“I’m afraid it’s need to know Miss. Now if you would be so kind as to show us to your books, we can get things underway.”  
Ignoring the kid I walk around him and behind the counter and pull a bottle of Black-Briar from my stash. This is shaping up to be one of those nights.  
“Miss,” the boy continues. “I need to see your books immediately. Failure to comply with our inspection could cause you to serve time in Dragonsreach’s cells.” The kid smiles broadly, as if he’s accomplished something. How green is this idiot? “If you wish to remain a free woman, you will show me to your books. Right now Miss.”  
I take a good long swig from my bottle. I look to my employee. “Saadia, would you do me a favor and get to work on cleaning out that stew pot? Thanks.” The girl walks off and I turn back to the authority-high kid. “As for you, I know for a fact whatever hogshite you’re cooking up here ain’t legal. Irileth and I go way back, used to run with her before either of us settled in the city see, which means she would tell me of any issues before I stepped on the wrong toes. So take your too-tight britches, and fuck off.”  
The guard bristles and his eyes narrow. He draws his sword and moves towards me. “On the orders of Farengar Secret Fire, you are hereby under arrest Hulda. You will be held until you are able to afford bail, or found innocent of your crimes.”  
I simply take another swig as the idiot approaches.  
He reaches his hand out to grab me, but is suddenly pulled down from behind by a very pissed off dark elf.  
“Bjales,” Irileth growls. “If it hasn’t been made clear to you yet, Farengar no longer holds any power in Dragonsreach. The Jarl had to be convinced not to execute the arrogant prick, so take whatever illegitimate orders he cooked up for you, and as the nice woman said, fuck off!”  
The two guards stumble over each other to run from my bar.  
Heh, serves ‘em right. Bastards.  
“Ears.” I greet my friend. “You look like shit.”  
She groans as she falls onto a stool. I slide her some wine and she starts drinking.  
“Today has probably been the worst day I have had the displeasure of living through in all of my very long memory.” she moans when she puts the bottle down.  
I raise an eyebrow. “Woulda thought that would be the dragon attack.”  
Irileth sighs again. “It was until today happened.”  
“What could possibly be worse than a bleeding dragon attack?” I ask her.  
She looks up at me. “Hypothetically speaking, how bad would it be if a certain brain-dead wizard and his favorite blonde haired bimbo attempted to conscript the dragonborn after threatening said being from legend with enslavement?”  
I spit out my mead and snap my head to her. “They fucking didn’t.”  
Irileth just nods. “Her and her friend didn’t take kindly to it apparently. She nearly burned the keep down, and her companion destroyed the door. A door designed to weather sieges brought down by one man. The Companions are pissed. We asked them for help patrolling the city, but they not so politely told us to shove it up our collective asses.”  
I give her a very long look. “You all got incredibly lucky the two of them didn’t decide to stick around.”  
Irileth looks up at me. “I figured, but care to share whatever insight you have that I lack?”  
“You pissed off the dragonborn, which is bad enough on its own, but Dusk is even stronger than she is.”  
Irileth does that thing where she goes pale while still having ash colored skin. Always thought that equal parts cool and weird. “Tell me you’re fucking with me.” she pleads.  
I shake my head. “You know my magic ain’t what it once was, but I’m pretty damn certain about this. The man cured a hangover I had a few mornings ago. Gave me a pretty good picture of his strength. He was pretty good, but nothing to write songs about. Fast forward two days and I force him to do it again. The man had gone from gifted to master in days. I’m fairly certain he could kill everyone in the city if he wanted. Only one who could stop him would be Svar, but she’s so head-over-heels for the dense moron she’d be helping him instead of hindering.”  
Irileth groans and slams her head down onto the counter. “I came here to feel better not worse you ass.”  
I laugh. “You know us diviners, hard truths are much better than comforting lies in our book.”  
Irileth sighs and looks back up at me. “Any idea where the two of them would go?”  
“Before you walked in? I assumed they were on their way to Winterhold. Now? Anywhere fucking else. Good luck. You’re going to need it Ears.”  
The elf takes a long draw from her bottle before setting it down. “I have even less of a plan now than I did ten minutes ago. Isn’t talking to you shits supposed to be helpful?”  
I laugh again. “I wish. Half of my predictions are cryptic horseshite even to myself. It makes for an interesting time if nothing else.”  
Irileth exhales and looks up at me. “Any chance of getting a meal and a bed so I can forget any of this exists till morning?”  
I chuckle and toss her a key. “Come on.” I say moving back around the counter. “You can help me with the fish.”


	8. 8

I wake to nearby growling and instantly jump to my feet. Arms at the ready.  
I’m greeted by the sight of Svar and Mr. Rogers playing tug of war with a particularly large stick, and I immediately feel like an idiot.  
Svar’s lip quirks up at my display. “See anything I should be concerned about?” Svar asks as she chuckles.  
“Screw off.” I say and pull some fresh cooked bacon from my inventory. I sit down and go to eat, but my precious bacon is stolen from me.  
I grit my teeth and look over to glare at Svar, but she’s already licking her fingers. My poor bacon will be remembered as it was. Mine.  
“Come on.” Svar says. “I’m dying to check this place out. If even half of what you said is here is actually here then this will be a very fun trip.” She picks up Ascalon from where it rests on the ground and ties it back onto her belt.  
I sigh and stand. I walk over to the lever and pull it, causing the gate to rise. “Ok then, let’s go unearth ancient mysteries forgotten by time.”

Wow this place is disappointing.   
I mean, I know there aren’t any vampires here right now, but I was expecting a challenge from the draugr. The place is nothing like in the game, which by this point is kind of par for the course really, and we have encountered very few undead. None of the strong ones either. Svar, Mr. Rogers, and I have just kind of walked right through them. Most of them fall to one bolt from me, one slash from Svar, or a few good chews from Mr. Rogers. I’m feeling kind of stupid for worrying about this.   
Murphy wherever you are please do not punish me!  
At that moment I feel the ground start to shake beneath my feet as a rumbling echoes throughout the chamber we are currently standing in.  
Murphy. I swear on the styx I will find a way to make you a eunuch.  
“What is this?” Svar asks as she takes her stance.  
“Not a damn clue.” I say as I move behind her and watch the way we came.  
Mr. Rogers is occupied by trying to catch a loose bone that the rumbling floor is causing to move around. It would be really cute if I wasn’t waiting for an oncoming attack.  
“There!” Svar yells and points.  
I follow her arm and look towards the hallway we have yet to traverse. Emerging from the hallway is a veritable sea of walking bones. What I assume to be hundreds of skeletons are all charging out of the hallway and heading straight for us.  
I immediately start firing lightning into the mass, but no matter how many my bolts collapse, there are always more. I could deal with them with a single spell, but I would need time to channel it.  
I prepare to pull my magic but stop as Svar steps forward.  
Svar focuses on the stone floor, while I keep shooting to buy her time, and works her magic. The top layer of stone changes into the same oil from before. This time however, she doesn’t set it alight. Instead, she leaves it as a hazard for the oncoming skeletons.  
What was once a well coordinated undead hoard has turned into a jumbling mass of slipping and sliding skeletons who are tripping over each other.  
I hear a very excited bark from my left and watch as Mr. Rogers happily leaps into the slowly growing pile of bones and starts chewing on whatever he can get his mouth on.  
He really is best boy.  
I hold my lightning magic and Svar and I just sit back and watch the show. The skeletons keep tripping one-another and all fall apart when they take a good hit. With the oil, their weapons fly all over the place, and those not bull-dozed by Mr. Rogers are taken apart by their fellow undead.   
Mr. Rogers is having the time of his life as he rolls back and forth across the slowly growing pile with what looks like an ulna in his mouth.  
That was the least intimidating undead horde ever.  
“You know,” Svar starts. “I was beginning to think you were wrong about the undead horde, but you were obviously right. Now I’m beginning to think you were wrong about worrying about this place. Everything we’ve come across has tipped like a cow.”  
“Ya, well we’re us.” I reply. “Imagine if a random person from the city ended up in this place. They’d be dead in seconds.”  
Svar shrugs. “Good thing we’re not them then.”   
The pile of bones has stopped growing, leading me to believe the skeletons are mostly dealt with. There is a problem though. The massive pile is blocking the hallway.  
“How are we getting through here?” I ask Svar.  
She looks over and smiles. “I don’t know about you, but I’ll be FEIM!” She turns into a ghost and just walks through the pile.  
“That is a reused pun!” I shout after her. “You can’t just recycle old shit and call it comedy!”  
A distant voice shouts back. “I was drunk and don’t remember. It doesn’t count!”  
“You obviously remember it if you know you were drunk!” I shout back.  
“Can’t hear you through the pile of bones!” The voice starts moving away.  
Screw this.   
I cast Lightning Form and slowly maneuver my way through the bones. While not as good as Svar’s true phasing, it gets the job done. Really need to look into electromagnetic phasing when I get a chance. It should be possible with lightning.  
I emerge from the other side of the pile to find Svar surrounded by dead frostbite spiders.  
She turns to look at me. “You didn’t mention spiders.”  
“Well, no one’s perfect.”  
She smirks. “What’s the point of keeping you around if you don’t know absolutely everything about everything?”  
I pause and tilt my head. “Because of my winning personality?”  
She hmm’s and walks away without answering.  
Well that was a great confidence booster.  
We leave Mr. Rogers in bone paradise and continue on through the tomb.  
There are a few more groups of skeletons and draugr, but they pose little threat.  
Eventually we got to a large grated iron gate. We look through the gaps and see eight large black eyes staring back at us.

Giant Frosbite Spider  
Level- 47  
HP- 1200

The spider charges us but is stopped by the gate. It hisses and spits at us but is unable to reach us.  
“I got this.” I say stepping forward as I draw Yamato.  
I make two slashes. Creating an ‘X’ through the gate that carries through into and through the spider.  
The giant falls in four separate meaty pieces as chunks of the gate tumble over.  
Svar looks over the wreckage then back to the sword. “That thing is scary.”  
I nod as I return it to its place in my inventory. “Yes, it very much is.”  
My sixth sense screams and I dodge to the side.  
From the now destroyed gate, another giant spider charges straight towards me.  
Svar steps in and intercepts it with Ascalon. She stabs into its abdomen, before pulling it out and taking the things head off.  
She turns to me with a smirk. “You’re a monster Dusk! You killed its newlyweb! No wonder it was after your head.” She kicks the head over to me and looks very proud of herself.  
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Eventually you will run out of puns. On that blessed day, I will finally know rest.”  
She shakes her head and sighs. “I’m disappointed in you Dusk. You should know by now that I’m punstoppable. You’ll spend the rest of your life receiving the glorious gift that is my comedic genius.”  
The corner of my mouth pulls up. “If you’re dead set on giving me gifts, I’d much prefer a broken drum. You just can’t beat that.”  
Svar looks at me in open-mouthed shock and she brings a hand up to cover her mouth. “But Dusk! You’d surely hurt yourself! I will not be responsible for allowing you to give yourself a percussion!”  
I smile and open my mouth…..  
I’ve got nothing.  
Svar smiles broadly and walks past me after patting my shoulder. “Don’t worry.” She whispers in my ear as she passes by. “You can be a sore loser later.”  
Trying and failing to understand what she means, I just shrug and follow after her.  
We proceed through the ruined gate and walk through a door on the other end of the spider’s den.  
We open it and my sixth sense screams at me. I grab Svar and teleport away just as the whole area explodes.  
That was a neat trap.  
“You good?” I ask Svar.  
“Fine.” She says. “Good reflexes.”  
We proceed back to the door, without exploding this time, and walk through.  
The two of us, and a now returned Mr. Rogers, come to a decayed balcony that is collapsing in on itself. The balcony overlooks a large stone island in the center of an underground lake. The island has a single small stone obelisk protruding from the ground.  
Guess we found our vampire.

  
(Serana)

  
I hear a faint rustling.   
How long has it been since I have heard?  
How long have I slept? Years? Decades? Centuries maybe? I can’t tell.  
I slowly feel my consciousness returning as my body lifts up.   
How am I rising? I’m still in darkness. The ever present, never ceasing darkness. It is both comforting and aggravating to be lost for so long.  
“Hang on a second…. Just let me…. ….there.”  
Voices?  
Has someone come for me?  
I hear stone shifting and all of a sudden I’m assaulted by the light.  
It’s so bright after so long in the dark.   
It takes me some time to adjust before I look down and realize I am on the ground. On my hands and knees to be precise.  
Was I sealed like this?  
I can’t remember. Perhaps I just fell?  
I lift my head to look around when I am suddenly assaulted by a delicious scent.  
I jerk my head in the direction the smell emanates from and see a fresh corpse with its throat cut open.  
In that moment I realize just how thirsty I am.  
I descend upon the corpse and latch my fangs upon its neck. Greedily draining its once flowing blood.  
After what feels like mere moments the blood is gone and I’m left disappointed. While no longer starving, I’m still somewhat thirsty.  
Although my head is in a much better place than it was a moment ago, so that is good.  
I stand up from my meal and look around me. I see two figures, a man and a woman, as well as a spectral hound with a humanoid pelvis in its mouth. One of their summons most likely. The man has dark ash grey hair, and similarly colored eyes. The woman has hair black as my own, and eyes to match. Both wear light armor and a sword at their hip. Though the woman’s blade is much more powerful. I can feel its strength from where I now stand several feet away.  
“Hey there.” The man says as he looks me over. “Take it slow. Not sure how long you’ve been in that rock, but suddenly waking up can’t be easy for you.”  
“I am fine.” I reply as I feel my strength slowly returning. “Who sent you here? How did you find me?”  
The woman turns to her companion, prompting me to look his way as well.  
“Well no one sent us.” The man says meeting my gaze. “I’m something of a seer. I know more things than I should, and one of those was what was in this tomb. I really wouldn’t want to be trapped in a rock for hundreds, if not thousands of years so we came to let you out.”  
I narrow my eyes as I become much more aware of a very important weight upon my back.   
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you would do this out of the kindness of your heart.” I say as I slowly position the scroll more securely away from them.  
The man notices my movement and outright laughs.  
“Lady,” he says. “If I just wanted the Elder Scroll, there are so many better ways to get it. Heck, there’s one just lying in a pod in Blackreach. I know a shortcut to get to it too. All you need to do is walk north of a little giant camp, phase through a dwarven gate, and wait as an elevator literally carries you to it. Believe me when I say I want nothing to do with those damn things.”  
Try as I might I cannot sense any deceit or ill intent from the man, so I turn to the woman. “And you?” I ask her. “Would you take the scroll for yourself?”  
The woman tilts her head to the side, as if considering my question. She seems to come to a decision as she shakes her head.   
“Nope.” She says. “I’ve got enough trouble on my hands. Last thing I need is some divine book drawing even more of it. Keep your scroll, I don’t want it.”  
Once more I cannot sense any deceit and begin to slowly relax.  
“Oh that’s right!” The man suddenly says, clapping his hands for emphasis. I raise my guard once more. “Introductions! I’m Dusk, and that’s Svarline. The perfect ghost pup’s Mr. Rogers. Who might you be Miss?”  
I regard him for a moment before answering. “My name is Serana. Thank you for reviving me.”  
He nods. “No problem. Now we just gotta figure a way out of here.”  
I frown, feeling confused. “I don’t understand. You were able to get here yes? Why can’t we simply leave the way you came in?”  
The now amused looking Svarline and the spectral hound both turn to look at the ashen haired man.  
Dusk stands still for a moment before feeling their eyes on him and exclaiming, “Oh come on! It was as much your fault as mine Svar!”  
Svarline raises an eyebrow at him. “Don’t look at me. I’m not the one who tried to wrap my mind around it.”   
Dusk fights off a smile as he turns back to me. “Short version? There was an incident with a scroll. Long version? Said scroll blew up while we were fighting a very large group of animated gargoyles and collapsed the way we came in.” As he finished he pointed up over my shoulder and behind me.  
Being careful to keep all three of them in sight, I followed his outstretched arm and looked upon veritable tons of rubble and scorched stone.  
I raise my own eyebrow and turn back at him. “How did you manage to blow something up that spectacularly?”  
Dusk groans again while Svarline cackles like a mad woman.  
“I can tell we’re going to be great friends.” She says as she gets her breathing under control.  
“I’m happy for you two.” Dusk says. “Now can we figure out how to leave please?”  
“Why don’t you just use the sword?” Svarline asks with her head tilted. Confusing me.   
The man’s weapon is magical in nature true, but it feels like nothing more than a simple shock enchantment.  
Dusk gives her a very pointed look. “Thank you Svar for revealing that little nugget to our new friend Serana here.” He says annoyed. “As for why I’m not using it. It cuts things. Cutting isn’t very useful when there’s 10,000 more tons of shit that’ll pile on top of it. Our best bet is to find a secondary exit.”  
“What makes you so sure there is one?” Svarline asks him with some incredulity.  
He looks back to her and says, “Building purposes for one. Not very intelligent to build an underground tomb with only one way in or out. If the exit collapses while you’re still building you’re trapped. The secondary might’ve been sealed off but we should be able to break it open. For another reason, our friend here was buried with an Elder Scroll.” I tense, but relax when I realize he still has no interest in taking it from me. “You’re not going to lock an Elder Scroll in a place where you can’t get it back. Most people, as in pretty much everyone who isn’t you or me, would kill for one of those things.”  
Svarline nods. “Alright, so all we have to do is find our secondary exit and bust it open. Any ideas where it could be Serana?”  
I shake my head. “This place looks very different from when I was locked away. The water is new for one.” I say looking over the area. When I was sealed the entire area was painted and dry. There weren’t any balconies, and the archways extended far more than they currently do. I must have been asleep for a long time.  
Svarline tilts her head at me. “Why were you sealed away to begin with? Something to do with the scroll?”  
I look over to her and narrow my eyes. “I’m sorry, but I don’t really trust you yet. Thank you for freeing me, but I would ask you not to question me about my past.”  
The woman shrugs. “No problem. Everyone’s got things they'd rather not talk about.”  
“Over here.” Dusk calls from the other side of the cavern. “I found something.”  
The hound, Svarline and myself all make our way over to the man.   
He stands in front of a solid iron gate which bars the way down a tunnel. I could easily flow through by becoming mist, but I do not want to leave these two behind. They did free me after all.  
“Is there a release for the gate?” I ask. “I could get through, but I would not want to leave you here to die after you’ve helped me.”  
Svarline adopts a manic grin as she turns to look Dusk in the eye and says, “Don’t worry, we’ll be FEIM!”  
Svarline’s skin turns spectral and incorporeal. I feel a great magical power in the word she just spoke, but cannot place it. It is not any magic I have seen before. The woman begins to laugh as she saunters through the iron gate.  
“Goddamnit Svar!” Dusk yells as he too casts a spell, turning himself into pure lightning.   
It is a very interesting spell in that it fundamentally alters his body’s make-up. I would be interested in studying it later.   
“If that becomes its own thing we are going to have problems.” The man threatens as he too walks through the gate.  
Well, since I won’t be leaving them behind I might as well. I turn myself into a silver hued mist and flow through the gate. Rematerializing on the other side, seeing Svarline still laughing and Dusk sighing heavily, both now back to normal.  
“Let’s just keep going.” Dusk says in a defeated tone. He begins down the hallway with his dog and Svarline and I follow him.  
We move on in silence, giving me a moment to gather my thoughts.  
I need to figure out what I want to do. For the time being, I should be safe with these two. They would have to be true masters of deception to fool my senses. Their heartbeats did not accelerate at any point when we were speaking. Their speech also carried the same inflection throughout.   
When they weren’t laughing at one another that is.  
Now that I’m not treating them as potential enemies, I’m beginning to realize a few things. These two seem remarkably strong. The fact they were able to free me should be proof enough, but their respective scents are intriguing.  
The woman, Svarline, smells almost reptilian, but not as an Argonian would. There is a certain power to everything about her. Her eyes seem to pulse, and the ground all but trembles at her step, as if recognizing a force which can easily destroy it. She walks as a predator, even as she hides behind her maiden mask. She is obviously new to this strength, for it controls her even if only slightly. She reminds me of myself for the first few years after…. after I was turned. What is she, and what is her power? Perhaps it has to do with her unique magic?  
The man, Dusk, on the other hand smells delicious. He is lucky they brought a corpse to free me, for without one I would have fed upon him. Even having drank, were I a newly turned savage, I would not be able to resist the call of his blood. He too is interesting. Even as he bantered with his companion, he has always remained wary of me. He thinks he is being subtle in his monitoring, and he is, but I am a vampire who has spent centuries surrounded by scheming vampires. I know what to look for. He is very cautious of me, but in a hopeful way?   
It is a very interesting dichotomy.  
Our group continues down the spartan hallway until I hear the music of interlocked bones.  
“Hold.” I tell my companions, causing them to tense and look at me. “There is a group of skeletons closing in on us from the direction in which we are heading.”  
The pair relax at my statement and begin watching down the hall.  
“So,” Dusk says. “Who wants this group?”  
I look to him in confusion while Svarline yawns. The hound sits down and begins scratching its ear.  
Dusk sighs. “Fine. Guess I’ll handle it.” He walks forward and I begin to feel the man channel magic within himself.  
It took me decades to learn what this man is casually demonstrating. There is something more to my two rescuers than I have yet been able to determine.  
At the far end of the hall, the first of the approaching skeletons round a corner and begin to charge straight for Dusk.  
He simply stands where he is and lets them come. Channeling his magic all the while.  
Dozens of skeletons have rounded the corner by now, and all of them are rapidly closing the distance to Dusk.  
I am moments from going to assist when I feel an enormous amount of energy released into the air.  
Dusk throws his hands forth and the entire hallway, skeletons included, are blanketed in a great nexus of lightning. The spell chains through skeletons, reflects off the walls and ceiling, and even rounds the corner from which the skeletons originated. I can hear the spell travel a substantial distance further before it slowly dies out.  
I return my eyes to Dusk to regard him in a new light and find him eating an apple I did not see, nor hear, him retrieve.  
“You get the next group Svar.” The man says as he heads down the hall.  
Svarline shrugs and follows after him, as if this spell is something she has simply come to expect from the man. Very interesting.  
We continue on through the now empty hallways until it ends at a large chamber.  
“I don’t remember this being here when I was sealed.” I tell the pair.  
The chamber is massive. There are stairs lining the entire perimeter and the ceiling is around a hundred feet high. There is only a small magical chandelier in the center of the room providing a pitiful amount of light, but my eyes are unaffected by the dark.  
Svarline begins to look around, but I notice Dusk is focused on a very specific point directly across the room from where we are.  
I feel a quick burst of magic. Before I can investigate, however, Dusk speaks with much more gravity than he has previously.  
“Fuck.” I hear him whisper with my greater hearing.  
“What is it?” I ask him, drawing Svarline’s attention.  
I feel him begin to channel his magic again and am instantly on my guard.  
“We have one hell of a fight ahead of us.” He says as he points in the direction he is looking.  
I follow his direction and my eyes fall upon a heavily armored draugr. It stands there. Doing nothing aside from studying us, but my instincts are telling me we will need to kill this thing in order to leave.  
“If you have any ways to make yourself stronger, I’d use them now.” Dusk says as he turns into energy once more.  
Svarline nods and suddenly I feel a large expenditure of magic from her direction. I look over and see she has changed her entire body into hardened steel. This is no simple flesh spell either, she has become true metal.  
It seems I am in the company of two very accomplished mages. Might as well show off a mite myself then.  
I call upon my magic and can’t help but smile as I stretch a muscle that has laid dormant for what can only be hundreds of years.   
I reach deep into the necromantic powers taught to me by my mother and pull.  
A ghastly green spectral armor comes into being around me. A swirling violet portal opens at my back, and out stalks a cloaked undead.   
The creature’s black skin is pulled tight against its bones, as it lacks any and all muscles. It floats a foot of the ground and is surrounded in an aura the same color as my necrotic armor.  
Sufficiently prepared, I look over and see my two companions staring at me.  
“Remind me to never piss you off.” Dusk says open-mouthed while Svarline smiles.  
“We really are going to be the best of friends.” The woman says as she begins to walk down the stairs.  
The undead across the way seems to have had enough standing around. It lets out a gravelly war cry, and I begin to hear the sound of hundreds of feet marching towards us, as if an army were just signaled to charge.  
“There are more!” I warn my companions.  
Dusk looks over at me and shrugs. “I kind of figured there were. I’m much better with hordes of weaker enemies so I’ll deal with his minions. Svar’s probably going to go straight for the leader. You do whatever suits you best, and take this.” He unsheathes his blade and hands it to me. “I won’t need it, and something tells me you know how to use a sword.”  
I accept the weapon with a grateful nod.  
“Can I get a teleport over to the bastard?” Svarline asks Dusk.  
Dusk nods back at her. “Get ready.” He grabs her shoulder, then turns to face me. “Let’s kick some ass.” He says with a smile before him and Svarline disappear with a thunderous *BOOM* and a flash of electric light.  
Moments later I hear Svarline doing battle with the large undead, and see multiple flashes of bright electric blue light as Dusk teleports in and out of the now visible draugr horde. His hands cut the undead in two, while his spells chain through them and destroy them with little effort. There are dozens if not hundreds of them, but he is holding steady.  
Having observed the situation, I decide to aid Svarline in her battle with the leader.  
Thrusting my hand out, I open another swirling violet portal, and myself and my summon step through. The rift reopens not 50 feet from Svarline’s battle, and I instantly begin casting spells to support her.  
I send my Nether Lich towards the approaching horde, filled with undead which were somehow able to bypass Dusk’s kill zone, in order to buy us some time. It begins to tear them apart as I return my attention to the fight before me.  
Svarline is quite skilled. She is using some quite advanced alteration magic to not only maintain her metal form, but to improve every aspect of herself as well. From her muscles to her senses. She can probably see as well in this pitch black darkness as I can.  
Realising Svarline can assist herself, I focus my attention on harrying her opponent. I use my vampiric speed to close the gap between the two of us in the blink of an eye and strike out with Dusk’s blade.  
Not anticipating the attack, the hulking draugr is only able to dodge part of my strike. The blade still connects and slashes through its midsection, but the thing is not bisected due to its sturdy armor.   
When the blade connects a jolt of lightning wracks the undead’s form.  
The enchantment on my borrowed weapon is weaker than I expected from the master of lightning, but it does its job so I choose to ignore it for now.  
Following up my attack while Svarline presses the advantage I have created, I call upon my necromancy to accelerate the wound's natural course. Being an undead, the wound merely rotted and fell off the undead’s body.   
Given time it would have been able to recover the lost mass, but for now it was fighting off balance against two skilled opponents.  
I deflect the draugr’s blade off of my ghostly armor and use my necromancy once more to freeze it in place.  
Svarline sees the chance for what it is and stabs her blade through the draugr’s head.   
Not giving the thing a chance, I bring my own blade down and sever it’s right leg.  
The undead still fights against us, but its defences have crumbles, giving me all the opening I need.  
This undead is quite powerful, but I am a necromantic savant.  
I place my hand upon the draugr’s chest and sever the connection the rotting creature possessed to this world.  
The body falls uselessly to the ground.  
“Well done.” A voice from behind me says.  
I look behind and see Dusk, still in his lightning form, presumably using the light it gives off to see, walking up to the two of us.  
Svarline looks out over the sheer amount of destroyed undead Dusk is walking away from and says, “Not too bad yourself.”  
He smiles and looks over at me. “How are you feeling? Can’t imagine waking up just to fight can be terribly fun.”  
“I am fine.” I respond. “However, I am excited to leave this place.”  
He chuckles. “I’ll bet. No time like the present.”  
I hold his sword out to him but he shakes his head. “I’ve got another one as Svar was so kind as to point out.” He says and sends a quick glare towards Svarline. She smiles innocently at him in response. “Keep it.”He says as he turns back to me and hands over the sheath. “You’ve done more with it that I have.”  
I hum at his words, before sending the lich away.  
We continue on our journey.  
Before we exit the chamber Svarline stops us.  
“Do you hear that?” She asks, bringing her sword up once more.  
I listen, but my sensitive ears pick up nothing.  
“What’s it sound like?” Dusk asks her with a strange look in his eye.  
“Voices. Chanting.” Svarline replies.  
Dusk smiles. “Explains why Serana and I can’t hear it. Let’s figure out where it’s coming from.”  
Slightly confused, I follow along as Svarline walks towards the source of whatever she’s hearing. We follow her into a corner, where a large ceremonial stone is set.  
Svarline looks entranced as she walks up to it and runs her hand over its surface.  
Svarline’s eyes open wide and she shouts out, “GAAN! LAH! HAS!”  
The same powerful magic from earlier washes over me as a lilac mass of energy extends out from her in a cone.  
The energy dissipates after it travels quite a distance, and Dusk and I turn to Svarline.  
Dusk looks part shocked, part jealous. “How the hell did you get all three words from one wall instantly?”  
Svarline just smiles as she beholds her new strength. “I’m just better than you.”  
Dusk’s eyes narrow. “Of course you realize, this means war.”  
Svarline laughs as she looks over the wall one last time, before walking in the direction we were originally headed. “Come on. You promised flowers and skeleton hordes. I’ll have a bone to pick with you if you’re wrong.” She cackles and takes off down the hallway.  
Dusk sighs heavily.  
I walk up to him and ask, “Are the puns a common occurrence?”  
He shrinks in on himself a little. “You get used to it?”  
I hum noncommitedly and follow after the strange woman.  
Dusk catches up after we have made some slight progress. Carrying with him a makeshift bouquet of deathbells and nightshade in his hand.  
He walks up to Svarline and makes an overdramatic bow. “For you my lady.”  
Svarline’s eyes light up and she snatches the flowers from his outstretched hand. She puts a few of the nightshades in her hair and places the rest of the flowers delicately into her bag after using alteration magic to ensure they remain pristine.  
“You know,” I begin in an effort to make conversation. “most women would consider their lover giving them poisonous flowers an insult, or an attempt to get rid of them.”  
“Oh, we’re not…” Dusk begins but is cut off.  
“Good thing I’m not most women then hmm?” Svarline says while holding my gaze with a fire behind her eyes.  
So it’s like that? Interesting.  
I hum to myself and walk past her.  
Dusk seems confused, but he lets it go.   
The man is clueless. It might be fun to play with these two.  
We walk a little farther and I smell trees.  
“We’re close.” I say to my companions and I increase my pace.  
The smell gets more and more defined and I smile.  
The brick tomb gives way to a rocky cave, and I see the exit.  
I run outside and breathe in the crisp night air. It has been much too long.  
I stand and bask in my freedom for a moment, but am interrupted by Dusk’s proclamation.  
“Oh! I totally forgot this let out here. We could totally grab an Elder Scroll right now!”  
Svarline and myself look at him dumbfounded.   
“What?” He asks. “I don’t actually care all that much about it. It was just an option.”  
“You will not take my scroll.” I growl as I prepare to defend myself.  
“What?” He asks again, confusing me. “Oh. Not yours. The other one I was talking about. That’s the giant camp over there.” He says as he points to a stream of smoke rising into the sky on the horizon. “Anyway, what happens now?” He asks looking back at me.  
“What do you mean?” I ask in return.  
He shrugs. “What are you going to do? Judging by how a vampire was buried with an Elder Scroll, something’s up. Now that you’re free are you going to sort that out? Not? Any concrete plans? Not that you have to tell me, I’m just curious.”  
I go to respond that I need to get home when I stop myself.   
What do I want to do?  
If I return to father I will be dragged right back into his politics, which is what caused me to be sealed to begin with. I suppose I could travel on my own. See how the world has changed since I last walked its lands, but the Elder Scroll will draw far too much attention to me.   
I could investigate Dusk’s claims of this second Elder Scroll, but do I really want to? This relic strapped to my back has brought me nothing but pain. It tore my family apart and was the catalyst that caused my mother to seal me away. I’m beginning to understand why Dusk truly wants nothing to do with the things.  
For the time being, I think I will travel. Father won’t know I’ve been awakened. I have plenty of time to revisit the world, but I will need strong allies to help safeguard the Elder Scroll.  
I turn back to Dusk. “Would it be possible for me to accompany you on your travels for the time being?”  
He looks surprised, but smiles and says, “Of course. Fair warning though, Svar and I might be wanted for attempted regicide.”  
I look into his eyes in an attempt to determine the truth of his words, but find no deceit.  
I turn to Svarline to validate the story only to find her glaring at me with a furious look upon her face.  
Is her hair smoking? Yes. Yes it is.  
What have I gotten myself into?

(Interlude: Ulfric)

The Imperials thought they could defeat me, yet I was saved by a dragon.  
I smile to myself as my horse carries me forward.  
Talos is with me. With the Stormcloaks. What other explanation could possibly explain my survival?  
I will rally the Stormcloaks, and we will rid Skyrim of the Empire’s tainted influence. The true sons and daughters of this land cannot be defeated. We will fight to the last, we will tear the Imperials apart, and we will earn our freedom.  
My horse carries me to a very familiar turn in the road and I smile.  
I’m home.  
My horse rounds the corner and my heart clenches. I cannot believe the sight I have laid eyes on.   
Windhelm…. What has happened to my beloved Windhelm?  
I dig my heels into my horse’s flanks and urge him to speed me into what is now a ruined city.  
The horse carries me across the bridge and I leap from his saddle as I begin to march through the debris.  
Sturdy stone houses have been reduced to rumble. Cobbled roads have been melted to slag, and I cannot find any of my people.  
I make my way to the smithy. It’s the only building in the entire city which is still standing.  
I throw open the doors and let loose a sigh of relief. There are dozens of people inside, and while far less than thousands of inhabitants of the city, I am glad to see some of my people survived.  
“My Jarl!” A deep voice calls, drawing everyone’s attention.  
“Oengul.” I answer as I move forward. “Is this all who survived?” I ask with uncharacteristic fear in my voice.  
The blacksmith shakes his head. “Galmar and Brunwulf have the majority of the survivors in a camp outside the city's walls. These are just the people we couldn’t afford to move too far.”  
I let loose a sigh of relief at hearing my people still stand.  
“Jarl Ulfric?” A timid voice asks.   
I turn to see a small girl in a worn red dress.  
“What do we do now?” She asks meekly.  
I look around at the faces of the injured. They are all injured, beat down, they’ve likely lost everything in the wake of this attack.  
I square my shoulders, lift my face to meet them, and speak.

(Interlude: Legate Rikke)

I sit within the Blue Palace in the war room. Seated around me are various political figures who are here for one reason or another.  
“But general…”  
“No Legate.” General Tullius cuts me off. “If this report from Windhelm is indeed accurate, we cannot afford to waste any resources. Our men have already confirmed there are indeed multiple dragons in the province. If the things are attacking cities then we must prepare. We must defend our cities. We do not have the manpower to protect those who turned against the Empire.”  
“General.” I say through gritted teeth. “The Stormcloaks needed to be dealt with, that is why I joined the Imperial military to begin with, but I will not simply stand by and allow you to abandon my people. We are facing dragons! This is the time where we must unite! We cannot afford to face this threat on our own. We need to stand together! We will be picked apart otherwise!”  
The general turns to me and narrows his eyes. “Legate. I have spoken. Your orders are to defend any city that remained loyal to the Empire. Any Stormcloak who turns themself in will be incarcerated. Any Stormcloak who fails to surrender themselves, will be put to the sword immediately. Ulfric lives because we were not swift in our judgement, so from now on we will be. We cannot afford to waste time with trials while the whole province burns. Am I clear Legate?”  
“General Tullius.” Jarl Elisif speaks up from her seat at the table for the first time. “I agree with the Legate.” The Jarl nods to me, then turns back to General Tullius. “I will not allow you to sentence half of Skyrim to death out of fear. We must work with one-another. With the dragons present, the Jarls will see reason. We stand a better chance together than we do apart.”  
General Tullius regards the Jarl without blinking. “The Empire will not aid the Stormcloak rebels.” he says calmly. “If Solitude attempts to conspire with these traitors, the Empire will withdraw its support from Skyrim.”  
The Jarl snarls as she stands. “You dare?!?! We have stood by the Empire since it first set foot in Skyrim, and you would leave us to combat this menace on our own?!?! Because you are incapable of seeing past petty squabbles?!?!”  
The general remains unfazed. “The dragons present a greater threat than you apparently realize. For the time being they have only been seen in Skyrim. What happens when they decide to venture outside of the province? The Empire spans more than one province, so I must do what is best for the Empire as a whole. Not one province.”  
My knuckles turn white as I clench my hands. “General Tullius.” I say. “If this is truly the Empire’s position, I will be handing in my resignation. I will not abandon my home.”  
The General shakes his head. “You cannot resign Legate. Your commitment still requires you to serve three more years under my command, and I will need your tactical mind to help safeguard the Empire. Besides, the Empire will only remove its presence from Skyrim if the Jarl here insists on supporting the Stormcloaks.”  
The Jarl slams her palm down onto the table. “Are you mad?!?!” She screams at General Tullius. “You have just said this threat could spread out of Skyrim! Your best chance to keep the beasts contained here is to coordinate with all of the holds! Why do you refuse to cooperate with those who could help you?!?!”  
The General stands and faces the Jarl. “The Empire has made its stance on this issue quite clear. Will Solitude comply with the Empire’s plan? Or will I be withdrawing my forces from your borders?”  
I seethe as I hold my tongue.  
Hearing a faint chuckle from my left, I turn to glare at the bitch sitting there.  
The Court Wizard notices as well and speaks up. “Is there something you would like to share?” Sybille growls towards the very amused Elenwen.  
The elf smiles and chirps, “The Empire is being most gracious by staying to defend you savages. All you need to do is concede the Empire knows best and execute the rebels. If I were you, I would accept this is the best course of action. We wouldn’t want your little city to crumble now would we?” The elf sneers.  
Thalmor bitch. That’s why the Empire is pulling out.  
Sybille meets the arrogant elf’s gaze and says. “Elenwen, why are you here? These discussions are to determine what to do about the dragons. Which are currently threatening Skyrim. Not the Empire. You have no authority until the dragons leave the province, so I would kindly ask that you remove yourself immediately.”  
The General speaks up. “If Solitude wishes to retain the services of the Empire, you will allow the Thalmor their just input. Now I would appreciate it if you would keep your pet wizard in check Elisif.”  
Sybille hisses at the man, but Elisif holds up a hand.  
“I am going to tell you what actions Solitude will take going forward, General.” The Jarl begins much calmer than she looks. “We will be sending runners to every major hold, every minor village, every settlement we can find, and offering to collaborate to defeat the dragons. Skyrim will face these beasts as a united province. Will the Empire assist in this endeavor? Or will the Empire withdraw?” The Jarl holds the General’s gaze throughout her proclamation.  
The General turns to me. “Legate. We are leaving. Gather the men, and let them know we are pulling out of the province in two days time. Send runners to each of our forward camps to distribute the same orders. Within a month, the Empire will have withdrawn all support from the province of Skyrim.”  
I stand and turn to the General. I reach my hand up and pull the Legion’s medallion from around my neck and throw it to the ground at his feet.  
“I no longer serve the Empire.” I growl at the General.  
“Praefect?” The General turns to his guard. “You are hereby ordered to arrest former Legate Rikke for desertion. She will be imprisoned, and taken with us back to Cyrodiil to stand trial.”  
The guard nods and draws his sword. He pulls out a set of manacles with his other hand and approaches me.  
“Sybille.” The Jarl speaks out, drawing the room’s attention. “The Empire has withdrawn their support from Skyrim and is attempting to illegally conscript one of her daughters. Fix this problem.”  
Sybille Stentor bares her unnaturally pointed teeth as she loosens her hands. “With pleasure my Jarl.” She walks around the table and comes between me and the Praefect. “This is your one chance to stand down boy.” She growls.  
Elenwen stands and raises her nose. “Justicar Ocanar?” She calls over her shoulder. “The barbarians are attempting to interfere with the Empire’s justice. Remove the savage’s head.”  
“Of course Lady Elenwen.” Her guard says as he draws his elven sword while magical fire coats his free hand. “Court Wizard Sybille Stentor. You are hereby under arrest for…” The elf is cut off as he begins to gurgle. He collapses and his slit throat reveals itself to those in the room.  
Sybille licks the blade of her knife clean as she stands over the dying elf. “I’ve always loved the taste of Aristocratic Asshole. Must be something in the wine.” She says to herself as she turns back to the Praefect who is now frozen in terror. She smiles at the boy, revealing sharp teeth soaked in blood. A small stream of crimson begins to drip down her chin as she turns back to the Jarl. “Orders my lady?”  
The Jarl’s eyes have hardened. “The Thalmor are no longer welcome in my hold. Ensure they remember it.”   
The wizard’s eyes flash red as she turns to Elenwen with a manic grin.  
The elf stumbles from her chair and falls over. She brings her hands up and begins to cast a spell when a black cloaked blur appears behind her.   
Sybille digs her teeth into the elf’s neck and Elenwen screams. She is cut off as the vampire snaps her neck.  
Red eyes rise up to hungrily stare at Tullius. “And what of him my lady?”  
“End his life and the lives of his bodyguards.” The Jarl orders. “He is guilty of treason against Solitude, as well as the province of Skyrim, and he will be treated accordingly.”  
“You can’t do this!” Tullius yells.  
The Jarl adopts a confused expression. “But I haven’t done anything have I? The Thalmor delegation attempted to assassinate me when you agreed to aid my imperiled province defend itself from the threat the dragons pose. You valiantly gave your life to save my own, and Legate Rikke took command of your forces, as you commanded, to carry out your final orders.”  
I grin evilly as I turn to look at the man I once respected. “Thank you for your valiant sacrifice General. I will ensure your orders are carried out to the letter.”  
“Nooo!” The General screams out before he and his two bodyguard’s find their throats cut with the Justicar’s dropped sword.  
The vampiric wizard laughs as she picks up the General’s sword. Using the blade to cut Elenwen’s head from her shoulders, destroying the puncture marks left by her fangs in the process. She turns to the Jarl with a wide grin, displaying her inhuman teeth. “Didn’t think you had it in you girl! Well played! Very well played indeed! The Empire can’t refute this without publicly declaring they were abandoning us, which would piss off every other province who is part of the Empire, and the Thalmor are notorious liars. You’ve maneuvered this quite well Elisif, I’m impressed!”   
The Jarl nods in thanks before taking her seat once more and motioning for myself, the wizard, and her steward, Falk Firebeard, to do the same.   
Her two bodyguards hurried from the room to report the attempted assassination and General Tullius’s noble sacrifice.  
“We have a lot of work to do.” The Jarl says.

(Interlude: A Vengeful Spirit)

The fools thought they could bind me. Me!   
It would be amusing if it weren’t so insulting.  
The only reason they are allowed to persist in my service is their aid to me. Whether intentional or not, they did free me from that nightmare that was the Soul Cairn.   
Thinking of the look on that arrogant vampiress’s face when she realizes I’m free of our mutual prison brings a smile to my borrowed lips.  
I look down over my new form and frown.   
I never understood why mages other than myself would never exercise. How did this disgusting man live with himself?  
No matter, I will soon have a much better vessel. Morthal is close.   
Once I return and reclaim the service of my wayward vampiric general, I will be offered the body of one of his strongest children.   
Once I have a worthy vessel, I will resurrect the rest of my great army. This province has grown weak without The Wolf Queen’s guiding hand. It’s people fight amongst themselves, they welcome foriegn rule, they cower from the challenge these newly risen dragons represent instead of meeting it head on as true warriors would. It is time this situation changed.  
I will lead them once more to glory and prosperity. I need only be patient.  
Luckily, patience is something I have learned in abundance during my centuries withering in the ‘hospitality’ of the Ideal Masters.  
I smile as I force my flesh to continue shepherding me onward.   
Soon…


	9. NEIN!

Serana wants to hang with us huh? Definitely not going to complain.  
I turn from the smoke billowing up from the giant camp to my companions. “So, anyone have anything they want to do?”  
Svarline turns from Serana to face me. “I want to find more dragons to kill. I still need to get stronger.”  
Serana’s eyes widen slightly before she schools her expression. “Dragons?” She asks. “It has been quite a long time since they have been active.”  
I turn to her. “Have you ever met any?”  
She shakes her head. “No, but my father had a regiment dedicated to nothing but their demise. They would occasionally believe themselves above their station and attack my family’s empire. They would always fall.”  
Huh, that’s badass and terrifying. I really hope she isn’t planning to eat us when we go to sleep.  
“Would you be opposed to going dragon hunting then?” I ask her.  
She shakes her head. “I have agreed to travel with you to see this new world I have awoken in. If there are dragons, I would be happy to see them.”  
I nod at her before sighing after coming to a realization.  
“What?” Svar asks, looking concerned.  
“Nothing significant.” I reply. “It’s just there’s only three dragons whose location I’m fairly confident of. Well five, but those other two are nice. Of the three I’m willing to kill, two of them are far to the north hiding under an ice shelf, and the third of which is down in Blackreach.”  
Serana focuses on me. “The same Blackreach that contains your Elder Scroll?” She asks suspiciously.  
I laugh. “I’m more than happy to leave that damn thing where it is. We’ll just have to pass underneath it to get to the dragon.”  
Serana hums. “You mentioned being a seer of sorts, yes? Most seers I have met are not near as accurate as you. How are you so certain of your information?”  
I shrug. “My source is better than most seers.”  
She narrows her crimson eyes at me. “I suppose you will not tell me what you mean by that.”  
I smile. “You have your secrets, I have mine.”  
She hums again. “For some reason I do not believe I have many secrets from you ‘seer’.”  
Christ she’s smart. Why did I think waking her up was a good idea?  
Oh hell, I just gave myself away with some bullshit heart hearing thing didn’t I? Would Gamer’s Body negate that? I have no freaking clue.  
Serana simply smiles. “No matter. The two of you are quite interesting, so I think I will enjoy travelling with you. Now, would you be so kind as to lead us to this Blackreach?”  
I nod and start walking to the left of the giant’s camp, Mr. Rogers trotted along at my side with a skull in his jaws.   
He is best boy.  
Our group walks for about 3/4ths of a mile through the night before Serana speaks up.  
“You mentioned an elevator, yes?” She points a finger to her right. “I do believe I have found the contraption.”  
Following her finger, all I’m able to see is the nearest trees, then nothing but darkness.  
“I can’t see what you’re pointing at. Does it look made of stone and dwemer metal?” I ask her.  
“Yes.” Svar answers, her eyes glowing a faint green. “I’m guessing we’ve found it?”  
I nod. “Yep, just gotta ride it down now.”  
Good to know metaknowledge isn’t completely useless.  
The four of us, led by Svar and Serana, walk up to the ancient dwemer contraption.  
“Yep, this is it.” I say as I become lightning and walk through the bars. “Be careful, I’m not sure if this thing still works properly.”  
Serana looks it over before shaking her head. “It will work fine. The dwemer were nothing if not meticulous in their creations. Some contraptions my family possessed of their make lasted for hundreds of years without maintenance.”  
Svarline turns to Serana with a curious expression. “Were you around before the dwemer disappeared?”   
Serana shakes her head. “I am not that old. They had already been gone for over two thousand years before I was born.” Her eyebrows draw together. “How long has it been since they disappeared?” She asks.  
I go back through my memory to what I know of the Elder Scrolls timeline. “Something around 4000 years now?” I say.  
Serana turns to me curiously. “You don’t know the exact value seer?” She asks, almost amused.  
I shrug. “I said my source is better than most, not that it's perfect. If I remember correctly the dwemer disappeared at around 1E 700. It’s 4E 200 now?”  
“201.” Svar corrects me.  
I nod to her and turn back to Serana. “4E 201.”  
Serana puts her hand to her chin and looks to the ground. “I went to sleep in the second era. Something around the 8th century if I remember correctly. How long was the third era?” She says as she looks back up at us.  
I have no idea. When did Oblivion start? It was either 200 or 400 right?  
“Roughly 400 years.” Svar answers her.  
“So I have been asleep for around 7 centuries. Interesting. Regardless, we are off topic. I assure you the elevator will work. Who knows? We might find a clue to where the dwarves disappeared to when we reach the bottom.” She seems interested in that prospect, but she doesn’t seem like she’s exactly dying to find anything.   
I shrug. “I guess it’s possible, but people have been trying to figure out where they disappeared for literal thousands of years. I don’t really know of anyone who’s made serious progress.” Well, except for Arniel Gane, but I’m not sure he gets pulled to the same place the dwarves did.  
Serana turns to me and hums. “Is that so seer?” She asks suspiciously.  
Ok lady, we get it. You’re super smart. I’m but an ant that can hide nothing from your magnificence. Can we move on now?  
Serana just smiles, letting the issue drop, and mists through the bars, Svarline’s spectral form close behind her.  
“Down we go!” I say and pull the lever.  
Eight. Fucking. Hours. It took us eight fucking hours to get to the bottom.  
How deep is this damn thing, and why the hell is it moving so damn slow?!?! Snails move faster than this damn thing!  
An hour in Svar and I passed out with Mr. Rogers watching Serana as she watched us. I didn’t expect him to be able to stop her if she tried something, but it made it easier to sleep at least.  
We wake up six hours later to see Serana meditating in the middle of the elevator telling us she still can’t hear any sound echoing off the bottom.  
Svar and I sit there while Serana continues to listen before she finally tells us we’re close.  
“Ok.” I say. “My source might be better than most seers, but as I’ve already said it’s far from perfect. I have general knowledge of what is down here but nothing more. Keep in mind that there is definitely a dragon and go from there.”  
Svar and Serana nod as they prepare themselves.  
With a great lurch, the lift comes to a halt with an empty hallway as our path forwards.  
“Svarline and I can see in this darkness.” Serana says. “We will lead, you cover our backs.”  
Svar and I nod and we get moving.  
We walk through long abandoned halls, which lead to decrepit rooms. There are rusted amenities, crumbled stone furniture, and a large amount of scrap metal whose various purposes have been lost to time.  
Whenever I see Serana turn away I inventory as much of the dwemer metal as I can. It can’t all be salvaged, but when I start crafting, what can be salvaged will be very useful.  
After 45 minutes of exploring, we come to a great room, large enough to house a dragon. It is spherically shaped, and there is a large contraption set in the center of the floor. Looking up, I see another large contraption with a shining pod in the center.  
Svar follows my eyes and asks, “Elder Scroll?”  
“Yep.”  
Serana joins us. “I must say, I am more than a small amount surprised you were correct.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You see a random machine and all of a sudden I’m right?”  
She shakes her head. “No. I can feel the power contained in that pod. It is very similar to the scroll I carry with me, and after spending so long slumbering with it I have become familiar with the energy it gives off. There is a scroll contained up there.”  
Svar tilts her head. “So are we taking it or leaving it here? I honestly don’t care either way. I’m just here for the dragon.”  
I shrug and turn to her. “Like I said. I don’t want it. That thing can rot for all I care. We have no need for it.”  
Serana hums again. “You should take it Dusk.” She turns to me. “Store it wherever you store your second sword. It should be possible, yes? It is much better we take it with us now, than need it later and return to find it missing.”  
She’s got a point, but that thing’s going to draw attention. Daedric attention. A certain tentacle eyed Lovecraftian elder god wannabe to be specific.  
On the other hand though, it’s an Elder Scroll… Why wouldn’t I want an Elder Scroll? I mean these things can mess with time, be used to seal away…  
That’s Greed talking isn’t it?  
Fuck, now I want the Scroll.  
Svar nods to Serana. “She’s right. I’ll go grab it. Watch my back would you? I don’t want to get blindsided by whatever traps and other defenses might be in this place.”  
Serana and I nod as Svar begins casting.  
The cloak she is wearing suddenly splits itself into eight long fluid tendrils all connected at her back. Making her look as if she is a large spider.  
The tendrils push into the ground and lift Svar aloft. The cloak walks her over to the nearby wall and begins walking up its surface while carrying her up along, reinforcing the spider image.  
Damn alteration is OP. She has fine control of each of those pieces, and she was able to make them adhesive and strong enough to support her weight. Or is she changing her weight to be less than normal? Either way, OP.  
Serana and I keep an eye out as Svar reaches the top and carefully maneuvers around the machine. She has to dodge in and out of a few of the larger plates of metal, but makes it to the pod without issue. She lays her hand against its side and the pod melts away, falling from the ceiling.   
Serana and I dodge out of the way of the molten goop as Svar makes her way back down the wall.  
Secure on the ground once more, her cloak knits itself back together and she holds a golden cylinder out to me.  
“Got it.” She says smiling.  
“That was really freaking cool.” I say to her as I take the scroll. “You’ve got to show me how to do that someday.”  
She smiles at me before turning to face Serana as I study the scroll in my hands.

Elder Scroll(Dragon)  
Legendary Item  
An object of great power that can be used in various ways depending on the power and knowledge of the wielder

Well that’s vague as all hell.  
Serana looks at me curiously. “What did you just do?”  
I look at her. “What?”  
“You just used your magic, yes? What were you doing?”  
She can fucking sense Observe?!?!  
“Uh... It was an information gathering spell.” I answer.  
She looks at me curiously. “Use it on me.” She says.  
Hesitating for a brief moment, I do so.

Serana  
Daughter of Coldharbour  
Level- ???  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thoughts about you- ???

Serana is question marked.  
That has terrifying implications.  
I am so very glad I haven’t met Harkon yet. Why the hell didn’t I observe her the second she fell out of the stone?  
Oh right. I was still trying to heal the hole in Svar’s hand.  
It must be something hard coded into the dragonborn’s head that they see a very obviously dangerous button in the middle of an underground time-lost tomb that makes them think, ‘Oh look! I should press that! Nothing bad could possibly happen to me! I’m Dovahkiin bitch!’   
I guess in fairness to Svarline she didn’t seem fazed when the spike punctured her hand. More confused than anything really.  
Serana looks at me curiously. “What were you able to determine?”  
Well, she can probably hear my heart, and tell if I’m lying a thousand other ways even if Gamer’s Body can beat that, so truth it is.  
“It’s telling me you’re a Daughter of Coldharbour. Other than that, you’re too powerful to learn anything else.”  
She stiffens at my words, but ultimately relaxes. “When you trust me, I would be most interested in learning that spell from you.”  
Svar looks at me. “Why haven’t you told me about this?” She asks with more venom than I expected.  
“It’s one of the ways I know things.” I answer with a raised eyebrow, surprised at the sudden anger. “Had you asked, I would have told you.”  
Svar still looks irritated but nods in acceptance. “There’s a dragon down here right? Let’s kill it and leave.”  
What the hell’s up with her?  
Serana motions ahead and begins to lead the way once more.   
We walk through more decrepit hallways and living quarters as we make our way through the abandoned facility.  
Mr. Rogers found a chewy cup somewhere and has been dragging it along with us. I do my very best to not think about what happened to that solid metal cup to make it chewy, but I can’t not think about it. At least he’s a ghost dog and can’t catch diseases.  
Luckily, a distraction arises when we proceed through a door and emerge in a bioluminescent underground world.   
Blackreach is massive. We’re standing on a once paved road that has been eroded by time, staring out into an enormous cave.  
The plants growing in the dirt, walls and ceiling give off various colored light. Blues, purples, reds, greens, whites, there is an entire spectrum down here. Around the building we just walked out of is an underground river that flows around a large stone, and out of sight. The ‘cave’ extends farther than I can see and is populated by dozens of long abandoned, eroded dwarven structures. Far in the distance, there is an enormous source of orangish light that illuminates the area around it.  
“There.” I point the orb out to my companions. “That’s how we summon the dragon.”  
Serana regards me curiously. “You do not know its exact location?”  
I shake my head. “No. Only that it’s down here, and that if Svar shouts into that orb, it’ll come running.”  
Svar looks out at the orb. “It’ll take us around two hours to get there.” She says after judging the distance.  
“Well,” I start. “I’m pretty good at remembering things, and this building we walked out of is pretty memorable, so I can teleport all of us there and back. I’d really prefer not to be here any longer than is necessary.”  
Svar looks back to me. “Any particular reason?”  
I nod. “I’m not sure what is down here, but I know what could be. Particularly giants, falmer hordes, frostbite spiders, still functioning dwarven automatons, chaurus. I’d like to kill the dragon and get out before anything decides they don’t take kindly to our presence.”  
Serana nods even as she continues to take in the sights. “A good plan. We don’t know how the creatures dwelling here will react to our intruding upon their ecosystem. The shorter we are present, the better for all of us. Though I will want to take some samples of the plant life before we leave.”  
Svar shrugs. “So long as I get to kill a dragon, I’m fine with it.”  
Being reminded of an important piece of information I say, “Oh right. Svar needs to be the one to deal the killing blow.” I say to my companions.  
Svar looks confused while Serana turns to me intrigued.  
“Why is that?” The vampiress asks.  
I turn to Svar. “You alright with her knowing about you?”  
Svar hesitates a moment before she nods and turns to Serana. “I’m dragonborn. That’s the reason we’re hunting these things to begin with.”  
Serana turns to her and regards her in a new light. “Interesting.” She says. “I assume that if she deals the killing blow she will take more of the creature’s power than she would otherwise?”  
I nod.  
Serana continues. “And you know this because of the spell you used earlier. Quite versatile.” She puts a hand on her chin and looks to the ground as she stops speaking.  
Turning back to Svar I ask, “You ready?”  
She just smiles and pulls Ascalon. “Just give the word.”  
“Serana?” I ask, pulling her from her thoughts.  
She looks at me and nods as she walks closer. “Cast your spell. I am prepared.”  
I place a hand on each of their shoulders while Mr. Rogers rubs up against my leg, and fire a bolt from my chest after taking note of the building we are standing in front of.  
The four of us appear atop a ruined building a little over 200 feet from the orb.  
I cast Lightning Form as Serana’s armor settles around her once more and she is joined by not one, but two Nether Liches.

Nether Lich  
Level- 112  
Race- Undead  
HP-6730  
Unique Abilities- Decay(Accelerates the natural process of death. Potentially killing those affected in seconds after rotting away)  
Thoughts about you- You are not its master. If its master didn’t stop it, it would devour your delicious smelling essence

Goddamn this woman is scary.  
Also very glad she’s got a leash on these things.  
Svarline becomes metal once more and I can tell she is enhancing her muscles by how tensed she becomes. “Ready?” she asks us.  
Serana and I nod, and Mr. Rogers barks while nodding his head.  
Svar smiles and turns to face the orb. “GAAN! LAH! HAAS!” She shouts out and the violet energy charges forth.  
Please work in place of unrelenting force. Please work in place of unrelenting force. Please work in place of unrelenting force.   
The shout washes over the orb, causing it is swung backwards with the shout as a loud *GONG* rings throughout the underground.  
Yay it worked!  
Oh no it worked…  
The ceiling, walls, buildings, and ground all tremble as Svarline’s challenge is answered.  
“There!” Serana shouts and begins to fire sickly green beams and icicles towards a large red dragon who is currently flying towards us.

VULTHURYOL  
Dark. Overlord. Fire.  
Level- ???  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thought about you- ???

Serana’s liches begin to float higher as they rise to meet the oncoming dragon.  
Svar’s cloak splits once more, but unlike the tendrils from before, it forms into two equal sections which attach themselves to her shoulders and seem to lock into place.  
Svar charges forward and jumps from the tower.  
“Wait!” I cry as I prepare to teleport after her.  
I stop as I watch her cloak flap down, and see Svar rise back up. She grins at me over her metallic shoulder, held aloft by her cloak turned wings, and moves towards the dragon.  
She can fly.   
How the hell can she fly?  
Is this part of the bonus power she got from Liivhahfiik?  
I want to fly....  
Learn flight later, kill dragon now.  
Refocused, I begin to cover the liches and Svar’s approach by teleporting to a building across from the one I was just standing on, and creating a stream of crossfire with Serana’s assistance.  
The two of us fire ranged spells from our respective perches to distract and inconvenience the dragon as our fliers go to meet it.  
Tired of our interference, the dragon lets loose a shout at each of us. Fire at Serana, and frost at me.  
I teleport to another building to avoid mine, and prepare to teleport over to assist Serana only to see two large grey bat wings protruding from her back as she too takes to the air.  
Am I the only asshole here who can’t fucking fly?!?!  
Bullshit. I can fly. Lightning is OP if you know what you’re doing. I can figure something out right?  
The liches fly around the dragon’s head while Svar attacks its unprotected underbelly as I come to rest on a building and cross my legs as I sit down. Closing my eyes and meditating to think.  
Ok, you can do this. You’re a fucking electromancy master. Don’t think too scientifically, not enough time to work something out with electromagnetism. What else have we got?  
An idea comes to me and I have to force myself not to facepalm.  
Why the hell am I thinking about this scientifically at all. If physics applied normally Svar’s wings would fail due to her absurd metal body’s density. I am powerful enough to just decide to fly. I weigh next to nothing in my lightning form for christ’s sake!  
I sit for a moment longer and mold my lightning. From my form of pure energy, two massive sparking wings emerge from my back.  
I smile and begin to lift off the roof using the magic gathered into the wings to lift myself up, and achieve non-newtonian flight.  
Oh hell yes.  
I open my now electric blue eyes and turn to face the battle.  
The dragon has landed down in a paved street and is fending off the flying forms of Svar and a now fully transformed Vampire Lord Serana, both of whom keep flying in for quick attacks before ducking out. Serana was scary before, but now with her ghostly armor and her true form? I am very glad I am not fighting her.  
Both of the liches look beat to shit but are still hovering in front of the creature’s head. Doing a very good job of tanking all the damage the beast can put out.  
Mr. Rogers is phasing in and out of various debris and barking extremely loudly.  
Is he messing with the dragon’s hearing?  
He is the greatest dog a man could ask for.  
I manipulate the magic in my wings and rocket myself forwards, pulling Yamato from my inventory as I fly.  
I’m halfway to the dragon when it scores a major shout into the nearest lich. The undead shrivels under the flame and turns into wispy viridian energy.  
I increase my speed and bring Yamato back for an attack.  
Serana senses me somehow and lobs a pulsating orb of thick red blood down onto the dragon’s right flank. The dragon growls as Serana’s spell pulls its blood from the wound created by the spell and returns it to her waiting mouth, giving me an opening.   
The beast recoils away to its left. Directly into my path.  
I coated Yamato’s blade in lightning and put the entire force of my flight behind my swing as I cut out at the dragon’s left wing.  
The sword connects and severs the limb completely. The electrical energy I coated Yamato’s blade in leaps from the sword into the newly opened wound. Working its way through the dragon’s entire body, damaging and stunning it.   
The severed wing falls uselessly to the ground, still sparking with the remnants of the lightning spell.  
The dragon howls in pain and tries to strike me, but without its wing it’s only weapon is its tail, which my lightning magic is currently circulating through. Making accuracy next to impossible for the dragon.  
The silver form of Svar barrels into the dragon’s now defenceless left flank as Serana continues to fire necrotic, ice, and blood magic into its right.  
Svar screams out and follows up on Yamato’s work. Slashing Ascalon back and forth across the dragon’s exposed side.   
It tries to swing its tail around and catch Svar in the back, but I meet it with the flat of Yamato’s blade and use the magic gathered in my wings to bolster myself enough to outright stop the tail’s powerful strike.  
I force the tail away and follow after it, swinging down towards its base with another electricity coated Yamato strike.  
The dragon whimpers and tries to swing its tail away from the deadly blade, but the dragon’s entire form becomes coated in a sickly green energy. Taking the presented opportunity I swing the blade down, and completely sever the tail from the dragon’s body.  
The beast tries to slog away but the combination of Serana’s necromantic magic and my own lightning, which has just been reintroduced to the dragon’s form, makes the creature unable to do anything but whine pathetically.  
With Serana and myself hampering the dragon’s mobility, Svar flies to the back of the defenceless dragon’s head and plunges Ascalon down through its skull.  
The beast exhales once more towards the remaining lich and collapses.  
Golden tendrils rise from the dragon’s quickly decaying corpse and wrap themselves around Svar as she pulls Ascalon free.  
Now standing on the dragon’s skeleton, Svar takes in a deep breath, and releases it with a smile.  
Serana floats back to the ground and coats herself in blood as she returns to her mortal form. She dismisses her remaining lich and walks over to study Svar.  
I slowly return to the ground and release my magic. My wings disappear and I become corporeal once more.  
Serana looks Svar over and says, “Fascinating. You are much stronger than before this battle started. You truly did steal the dragon’s power.”

You leveled up x3  
For defeating an opponent 100 levels higher than you gain +5 levels!  
Gain +80 Stat Points!

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 119  
Class- Saber - LVL 20/100 [62%]  
Crafting Class- Blacksmith LVL 18/50 [31%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 4995 [1332 per minute]  
MP- 12520 [2504 per minute]  
SP- 4995 [1332 per minute]  
STR- 329  
END- 333  
DEX - 340  
INT - 626  
WIS - 626  
CHA - 280  
LUK - 284  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 4  
SP/HP= END x 15

For reaching 300 STR you have gained a perk!  
Overcome  
When your muscles would fail in a contest of strength, you will instead succeed  
Can only be used once per day

For reaching 300 END you have gained a perk!  
Sated  
You need half as much air/food/water/sleep as a normal human.

Svarline The Dragonborn of Legend  
The Last Dragonborn  
Level- 111  
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)  
HP- 8265  
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)  
\- Soul Devouring(When absorbing a dragon soul, if the dragonborn dealt the killing blow, the dragonborn steals more than the dragon's knowledge. Siphoning the dead beasts strength and power for their own. Can be used to obtain a number of benefits.)  
Thoughts about you- She’s happy you just killed a dragon with her

I need to take some time later to figure out what’s up with Svar. She was pissed at me, but now she likes me again. This is why I never had a lot of friends. People are fucking difficult.  
Anyway, dragon number three down. Not gonna lie, this would have been much more difficult without Serana’s liches tanking every shout the dragon used. She can summon ridiculously powerful undead, and do whatever the hell else she’s hiding from us because of her well founded trust issues. Really glad she decided to stick around with us a while longer.  
“Since when could you fly?” I ask Svar as I walk up.  
She smiles at me. “Figured it out when I was playing with Mr. Rogers yesterday morning. I fiddled around with my magic while you were still asleep and discovered some new tricks. I wanted to see what I could do after having killed a second dragon.”  
Serana hums. “I would imagine you wish to experiment more now? I would ask to be there to observe if you are alright with such an arrangement?”  
Svar looks to her for a moment before nodding her acceptance.  
Serana nods. “Good. I believe it is time we were moving. There are quite a few creatures rapidly approaching our position.”  
I nod and turn to the dragon to begin inventorying it.   
Mr. Rogers already has his paw on one of the dragon’s claws and he’s panting at me.  
I smile and note in my memory that that one belongs to him before grabbing as many of the bones as possible.  
I wonder if my inventory has a limit to what I can carry? If so I have yet to hit it.  
With the dragon and Yamato now inventoried I turn back to my companions.   
Serana has her hand on her chin while she looks at me curiously. “I would very much like to test that ability when we leave this place.” she says.  
“We’ll see.” I respond as I place a hand on her and Svar’s shoulders before teleporting us back to the building we arrived from.  
“If you will give me a moment.” Serana says as her winds reemerge. “I still need to collect some of the natural flora.”  
“Feel free.” I say. “I’ll probably do the same.”  
For the next ten minutes Serana and I gather up plants, her storing them in a satchel and me planting them in my greenhouse. I also grab up dwemer metal, and a few large blue glowing rocks that look relatively strong. I’ll check everything over later.  
The two of us return and find Svar putting her armor back on.  
Svar sees us and smiles, posing in her altered armor. “What do you think?” She asks.  
Where Adrianne had used steel and iron to reinforce the plates, Svar has used alteration magic and some of the dwarven metal lying around to replace it. Her armor is now black leather and bronze metal, with a dragon’s head emblem on the chest.  
“You look badass.” I say.  
Svar smiles at me, and the three of us walk back to the elevator. Mr Rogers followed happily behind us with a dead skeever in his mouth.  
I don’t ask.  
We hop in the elevator, and everyone takes a nap while Mr. Rogers watches us.  
Eight hours later we arrive back at the surface and look out into the daylight.  
Serana pulls her cloak’s hood up and turns to me. “Where to now?”  
I grimace and look at her. “You’re going to hate this idea, but I think we should go back to the tomb for a while.”  
The vampiress becomes more guarded and coolly asks, “Why?”  
“To prepare for a longer journey.” I respond. “I know of a pretty good place we could turn into our own personal fortress, but it will take a couple of days to get there. I’d rather we brew some potions, and train a little before setting off on that journey.”  
Serana thinks for a moment before nodding. “Very well, but if we stay for longer than a week I will go my own way.”  
I smile and nod. “Don’t worry, we won’t be there longer than a few days.”  
“Good.” Svar’s voice breaks into the mix as she throws an arm around my waist. “Let’s get going. Keep up Serana!” She says over her shoulder as she begins dragging me back to the tomb.  
Seriously. What’s with the 180’s Svar?  
We snuck back around the Vigilants and entered the larger part of the tomb. A couple of Serana coordinated shouts and Yamato slices later and the block left from when we killed the gargoyles was reopened. Giving us full access to the tomb.  
The four of us do various things throughout our five day stay within the tomb.   
Mr. Rogers jumped into the still present skeleton pile and refused to come out for anything. I gave him his dragon bones and just left him be. He deserved the break.  
Serana spent most of her time pestering me for ingredients, because of course she’d realize I store ingredients in my extra-dimensional space, before slinking off to some area I was never able to find in order to brew potions.   
I pestered her back one evening and she caved, teaching me a little necromancy. Prompting a notification I didn’t expect.

[Congratulations!]  
[You have found a teacher who is unsurpassed in certain disciplines!]  
[You may learn skills from this teacher without the corresponding class!]  
[If you gain the class later, you will have EXP bonuses based on how far your learning carried you!]  
[You can only learn one discipline at a time, regardless of how many teachers you have!]  
[Please select a discipline to learn from your teacher!]  
[Frost Magic/Blood Magic/Necromancy/Alchemy(Reduces research requirements by 50%)/Enchanting(Reduces research requirements by 50%)/Soul Magic/Swordsmanship/Unarmed Combat/Stealth/Strategy/Politics]

Huh. Well that’s pretty damn useful. She’s got a lot of things she’s ‘unsurpassed’ in.  
Hey Game? Is it pretty typical to find a teacher who can teach you this many different skills?

[Not at all!]  
[As a matter of fact, it’s abnormal to find a master of two disciplines!]  
[Finding a master of eleven separate skills is unheard of!]  
[You really lucked out here!]

Once again I’m made painfully aware of how much I do not want to piss Serana off. This woman could probably take the Imperial City on her own.  
Moving on!  
Let’s see. Frost magic and blood magic are cool, but I have electromancy which is both more awesome and already maxed. Alchemy and Enchanting are unneeded right now, I won’t be researching anything too substantial any time soon. Swordsmanship is taken care of by my Saber class. Stealth is unnecessary because of how absurdly fast I can be at times. Heck, the last time we were in this tomb I was practically Minato. If you swap Rasengan for Chidori, and Hiraishin for bolt teleporting. Once I can use Godspeed again I’ll be even faster. Strategy and politics I don’t care about at the moment.  
So which magic? Necromancy is OP, and I’m already on the outs with the local law enforcement, but soul magic… I’m seeing potential there.  
I choose soul magic.

[Soul Magic Affinity gained!]  
[Due to the nature of how you are learning the discipline, you will not receive spells!]  
[You will instead be able to shape the magic based upon how proficient you are with it!]  
[Think of it as a much more limited version of Electromancy Mastery where you are only able to accomplish certain feats when you are strong enough!]  
[Your teacher’s ability, and willingness to teach you, will play a role in your competency!]

Very interesting.  
So now I had some more magic to play around with.  
Whenever Serana would come out of her hideaway she would work with Svar and myself. She would teach both Svar and myself soul magic, give Svar more fine-tuned sword lessons, and also help Svar figure out how much she had improved since killing Vulthuryol.  
Turns out killing a dragon gives Svar’s magic and overall skills an insane boost. Where before she could fly, she lacked fine control and speed. Both of which she has now gained after defeating the dragon of Blackreach. Serana’s best guess is Svar gets around a decade worth of experience for every dragon she ends. Pretty damn good EXP gain there.  
Speaking of EXP, I hopped into my demon ID when I was alone to grind up my Saber class. Figured since I had the time now, I needed to get my swordsmanship up to snuff. I gained 12 levels for my time allotment, a full day and half of the following night, and got a lot of alchemy ingredients.

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 131  
Class- Saber - LVL 32/100 [62%]  
Crafting Class- Blacksmith LVL 30/50 [31%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 5895 [1572 per minute]  
MP- 13720 [2744 per minute]  
SP- 5895 [1572 per minute]  
STR- 389  
END- 393  
DEX - 364  
INT - 686  
WIS - 686  
CHA - 280  
LUK - 284  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 4  
SP/HP= END x 15

The levels didn’t give me any cool attacks or sword styles, but I’m much better with the sword than I was prior, so I’ll take it for now.  
After I was done, I figured it was time to start crafting. I’d been putting it off way too long and decided to bite the bullet.  
Using ingredients I got from the ID’s as well as what I had growing, I made a ton of potions and distributed them out to everyone.  
I made fire resistance, healing, mana recovery, stamina recovery, speed, toughness, invisibility, shock resistance, and a number of others. I have quite a few recipes for potions ranging from healing, to fertility. It’s pretty damn cool.  
Svar accepted hers graciously, but Serana gave them back. Simply saying hers were stronger and specifically tailored to vampires.  
I wasn’t too insulted though. The woman is question marked for a reason. Plus, more for me!  
As far as enchanting went I realized that thanks to the Gamer I didn’t really need soul gems. They would definitely make any enchantments stronger, but I could improve them later.   
I enchanted both my armor and Svar’s to be stronger, more resilient, and resistant to various forms of magic. Including the thu’um. Took a couple hours of testing to figure that one out. My enchantments wouldn’t no sell anything, but they would reduce the effectiveness of any attacks or spells used against us.   
I offered to give the same enhancements to Serana’s gear, but she just raised an eyebrow at me and held out the sword I gave her the last time we were in this tomb.

Serana’s Sword  
Deals STR + 30 Electrical Damage per strike  
Deals STR + 20 Frost Damage per strike  
Deals INT + 30 Necrotic Damage per strike and slows enemies  
Deals WIS + 20 Soul Damage per strike and corrupts enemies  
This sword is unbreakable

What the fuck does corruption do?  
She grinned at my expression and walked off. God that woman is scary.  
Every night Serana would slink off to wherever it was she slunk off to while Svar would sleep with me.  
She seemed very clingy lately. Confusing me even more. I really don’t do the whole socialising thing all that well.  
The second night after Serana had finished her lesson and left, Svar spoke up before we went to sleep.  
“Dusk?” She asked almost hesitantly as she rolled a stick between her fingers.  
I looked over. “What’s up?”  
She sat down next to me and scrunched her eyebrows together. Thinking hard about something. “What’s your plan?”  
I was a little confused by the question. “What do you mean?”  
She looked up to meet my eyes and bit her lip. “I know we’re going to the Sky Haven place you told us about, but what are you planning on doing with it? What’s your long term goal here?”  
I opened my mouth to answer but stopped myself. I didn’t really have a long term in place did I? Thinking about it, I really didn’t give a shit about half of what was happening in the world. I don’t hate the dragons, they’re just a way to make Svar stronger, so I’ve been thinking of ways to hunt them. Harkon needs to be stopped eventually, same with Mirakk, but we’ve got time. I want to take out Delphine and Farengar before too long, but beyond that I don’t have a goal.  
“I don’t really have one.” I respond looking back to Svar. I raised an eyebrow at her. “Why are you asking? Do you have something you want to do?”  
She nods and swallows. “I’ve got a few things. Mainly I want to get stronger, it’s why we went after that dragon, and what I’ve been doing since I lost my family. I want to be strong enough to live however the hell I want, and protect the people close to me so I don’t have to watch anymore of them die.”  
I nod. “Admirable. Most people just want power for power’s sake. While I’m not going to condemn anyone for that, I think your reason’s better than theirs.” I chuckle. “Better than mine.”  
Svarline tilts her head at me. “What do you mean ‘better than yours’?”   
I take in a breath and speak. “I’ve been getting stronger so that I can survive. While not a bad reason by any means, it isn’t really working towards anything you know? Like I said, I don’t really have a plan. My overarching goal has been ‘Live Till Tomorrow’ for quite a while now. I’m just starting to get to the point where I can think about what I want to do aside from just living. Still haven’t really thought about it obviously, but the option’s finally there.”  
Svar rubs her wrist. “Now that you have the option, what are you thinking about right now?”  
I look over at her questioningly. “You mean what goals can I think of off the top of my head?”  
Svar looks up and nods, waiting for my answer.  
I look at the roof of the tomb and think.  
What do I want aside from power? I suppose I want to travel around. I mean, I’m in the fucking Elder Scrolls universe. This place ate my childhood. I would wake up early in middle-school just so I could grind Iron Daggers and up my smithing. I spent hours running around and jumping so my acrobatics and athletics would increase in Oblivion. I actually fucking talked to people while playing ESO. My stupid introverted self, talked. To other people. About the lore, or how powerful a certain enemy was compared to others. Hell, one time when I was running through Banished Cells my group just stopped halfway through to argue about whether or not High Kinlord Rilis could beat pre-ascension Mannimarco.   
This world is a dream come true for me, and when I’m not fearing for my life, I’m really enjoying my time here.  
I also really like hanging with Svar. She’s rough around the edges, but I’m fucking jagged so I don’t have room to complain.   
Learning from Serana is awesome too. I mean, I know real magic now. How freaking cool is that?!?!  
I just want to keep doing what I’m doing really.  
I guess that’s my goal then. Travel around and hang out with friends.  
Realizing I haven’t spoken for a while, and seeing Svar nervously playing with her hair, I speak up. “I just want to keep doing what we’re already doing really.”  
Svar frowns and looks confused so I clarify.  
“I like what I’m doing right now. I like running around and seeing what’s in the world. I mean, despite the fact that we left Blackreach quickly, it was still beautiful. It was an underground world with glowing walls and freaking dragons! Tell me that’s not awesome.”  
Svar smiles slightly, but she still pulls at her hair nervously.  
“I like learning magic, making the impossible possible. Heck, we flew! I like that. I like seeing whatever I can see, and I like wandering around. So that’s my goal. Wander around, abd see what I can see. Maybe meet some friends along the way and do it together.”  
Svar freezes.  
“I think that’s my goal. Just go around seeing the world, learning whatever there is to know, and doing whatever feels right. Might not seem all that fancy, but that’s what I want.”  
I look at Svar and see her eyes narrowed and hands clasped so tightly they’re turning white.  
Huh, that’s weird.  
“What about you?” I ask. “What’s your goal?”  
Svar takes a deep breath and turns to look at me.   
Why does she look so pissed?  
“I…” Svar begins but is interrupted.  
“Svarline I need to borrow you for a moment.” Serana speaks up as she walks out of whatever shadow she was skulking in. “You will be able to return shortly.”  
Svar turns to face away from me and looks to Serana.  
I shrug. “Whenever you’re done I’ll be here.” I say.  
Svar looks back at me without the anger. Just disappointment. She stands and follows Serana.  
Not sure what that’s about, but I need to talk to her about the whole angry, not angry, angry again thing she's been pulling. It’s really starting to get a little tiring.  
I sit down and start to build a fire while I wait.

(Svarline)

Bitch interrupted us on purpose. If her general demeanor didn’t give it away, the shit eating grin on her face would.  
She leads me through various corridors and into a small cave. Dusk long behind us.  
“What do you want, Serana?” I ask with gritted teeth.  
She chuckles. “Oh, I was merely getting you away from Dusk.” The woman purrs at me.  
I narrow my eyes. “Why? What do you want?” I repeat a little louder.  
The vampiress grabs her chin and tilts her head. “I don’t know really.” She hums then turns to look at me. “What would you say if I told you I was going to take him?”   
I snarl as I close the distance.  
This bitch fucking dares?!?!  
“Dusk is mine, vampire! Keep your fangs to yourself or I will tear them out!” I use my newly practiced magic to cause smoke to rise from my body.  
The vampire throws her head back and laughs. “Oh girl, this will be fun! You think you have claimed him don’t you? You’re wrong!” She bares her fangs at me in a pathetic imitation of a smile.  
I close the distance until I’m a hair's breadth from the vampiress and huff burning smoke into her face. She doesn’t flinch. “I have been with him long enough for the two of us to slay three dragons. He is mine. I will not allow you to steal him away from me. He wouldn’t accept you anyway.” I add as an afterthought.  
The vampire’s crimson eyes seem to shine as her grin somehow grows wider. “Is that so?” She hums. “He seems to admire strength, and I am most definitely stronger than you.”  
I snarl and open my mouth to respond but the air is stolen from my lungs.  
I gasp and feel myself pressed up against the wall of the tomb with sharp claws delicately petting my throat.  
“Some dragon you are.” The vampire taunts. “You are not even strong enough to claim your mate. Let alone protect that claim. I think I might change him. Make him just like me. Do you think he would enjoy venturing throughout eternity at my side? Living forever, and seeing all that time has to show him?” She asks curiously.  
I thrash against the hold and pull on my magic. The bitch was listening! She’s trying to take him from me! I will end her!  
A single touch ceases my resistance as her claws come to rest directly under my eye.  
The vampire hums. “Perhaps I should cut this pretty little face up? I wonder if he’ll be able to stomach you without your looks? Or perhaps he’ll finally be able to see the true you? The controlling housewife act you present is tiring, and I’ve only been with you for a few days. Do you fear him running upon discovering just how primal you are? Dusk might not be able to see it, but I can. I’m much the same way after all.”   
Serana’s form changes into the monstrosity it was in Blackreach. Pale skin pulled against angular features, with ears longer and pointier than an elf’s, eyes sharper than a wolf’s while still red as blood, and a maw filled with jagged sharp teeth. She leans close to my ear and whispers with a gravelly voice into my ear. “I sensed it very soon after meeting you, I just didn’t have a name for it until I knew what you were, dragonborn.”  
I snarl and begin to call upon my thu’um. Fire will teach this bitch some manners. “YO..*gack*”  
Serana closes her hand around my throat to cut off my airway. She brings her monstrous face back in front of me, and tilts her head as she studies me. “You possess so much power, so much potential, but you lack the finesse and control to use it properly. You think hiding what you are is the best way to live? Well I’m living proof to the contrary.”   
She removes her claws from my face and releases my throat.  
I fall to the ground and cough as I begin pulling air into my lungs once more. I feel two leathery wings envelop me and am pulled into an embrace.  
“You will not master your nature in a day, but you will master it. I struggled with the animal in me just as you struggle now. The only way to overcome your new draconic traits is to strengthen your will even as you grow in strength. The last thing you want is to lose control of yourself in a situation that will destroy you.” She begins to stroke my hair as I continue to breath heavily. “I threatened what you believed to be yours, and you immediately lashed out. What happens when someone else threatens to take him from you? Someone who cannot best you as I can? Someone whom he calls a friend?”  
My eyes go wide as I think of the repercussions. I look up to the monster and plead. “How can I stop this? I haven’t been able to control myself well since the first dragon! Everything is so… so vivid. I see things differently, I feel things differently. How do I make it stop?!?!”  
Her angular features soften, and her monstrous appearance becomes strangely comforting. “I will help you.” She says. “Just as my mother helped me. It will never stop, but it will grow comforting when you finally master your new instincts. One of which is obviously a dragon’s greed and anger. You see Dusk as yours. The idea of him any other way offends you, and while I believe he will accept you, you must stop seeing him as a thing. He does not belong to you, and he has his own issues. Where I sensed an overabundance of emotions from you, it is almost as if his own have been muted somehow. Control yourself better, and allow him to come to you. If I am correct you will not have to wait long at all.”  
I look up at her. “But…”  
The vampire’s eyes harden. “No. You are young and prideful, a shortcoming magnified by your draconic powers. Stop, and wait.”  
I clench my teeth, but nod. “Fine, but don’t fucking touch him.” I growl.  
Serana laughs again. “Girl, you are centuries too young to convincingly threaten me, but your attempts are endearing if nothing else. I will touch whoever I please.” She seems to glide away as I go to pounce on her once more, disappearing to wherever it is she goes when she is not training Dusk and I.  
I grit my teeth and lean up against the wall I was just pinned against. I slowly slide down it and sit with a sigh.  
Much as I loathe to admit it, she's right. This dragonborn thing is fucking with my head. I’ve never felt anything as strongly as I do now.   
The whole fiasco in Whiterun… I stopped caring what people thought of me after Fiale, but that bitch infuriated me.  
I’ve never cared about money, but all of a sudden I get irritable if I don’t have at least a hundred septims on me. I’ve never cared about baubles either, but now… well.  
I pull out the little red stick with the black bottom that Dusk gave me. I don’t know what it is about this small thing that intrigues me so much. It doesn’t even do anything! Is it simply that it’s unique? That no one else has one?   
I don’t know.  
I fiddle with the little red buttons a bit more before I place the small thing back into my backpack and sit down. I think of Dusk and smile.  
I’ve never been interested in relationships before either. Now though? I want, no, need him. I can’t explain it. Do I just admire his strength? While that is certainly attractive, watching him stand after having a dragon land on him was delicious, but his strength isn’t everything. He’s been honest with me hasn't he? If I were him, I wouldn’t have said anything to correct me about him having used me to escape Helgen. He’s never outright lied to me, he has things he keeps from me true, but I am obviously keeping things from him as well.   
I lean my head back against the cave wall and look to the ceiling.  
I don’t know how to respond to any of this. Should I wait until I’ve ‘mastered my new instincts’? Should I act now while he’s unclaimed? I’m more lost than I’ve ever been.  
Running was easy. I just went from place to place and left whatever problems I happened to have behind. This is hard. I don’t know how to act, and if I mess up, it’ll follow me.  
I sigh and stand up.  
I don’t know what to do, and staring at the ceiling won’t change that fact. I walk through the corridors until I’m back where I left Dusk.  
He’s just finished setting up a small fire in the center of the room. He uses his lightning magic to set it alight, and sits down before he turns to look at me.  
“Ok we need to talk.” he says, making me nervous.  
I slowly walk over and sit down next to him. “About what?”  
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Look, I’ll be the first person to say I suck at the whole socialising thing, but something’s up with you, and I don’t know what. It seems like every other second your opinion of me changes. You go from pissed to nice at the drop of a hat, and I don’t know why, so what’s up?”  
I’m confused. “No I don’t.”  
Dusk’s face loses all emotion and he just stares at me. “Not ten minutes ago you asked me what my long term goals were. I told you, and you got pissed at me. I don’t know why, and I won’t figure it out unless you tell me. So what made you so pissed about what I said?”  
I think back over everything we said before Serana pulled me away. He just told me his goals right? He wants to travel, to learn, to meet new people and….  
“Yes.” Dusk says, interrupting my thoughts. “That face. What is making you so pissed off?”  
What? I’m not mad. I was just thinking about him with other people….  
Oh.  
I take a deep breath to calm myself and look at him. “It’s not you.”  
He raises an eyebrow. “Ok? Is there anything I can do? I’d like to help if possible, but you need to tell me the problem.” He says genuinely.  
Do I trust him with this? No, that’s not the question. Do I think he’ll leave if I tell him?  
I grit my teeth.   
He won’t leave. Serana may have offered to help, but I trust Dusk more.  
“It’s this dragonborn thing.” I tell him.  
He looks confused. “What do you mean? What about it?”  
I swallow a lump in my throat and continue. “It’s changing me. The way I see things, the way I feel things. Serana essentially said I’m becoming more draconic, and it’s really messing with me.”  
He puts his hand on his chin. “I guess that kind of makes sense. You have a dragon’s soul, so a few dragon traits bleeding over would be almost expected, but why does it seem like I specifically am causing you problems? Am I doing something that’s messing with your dragon side?” He asks looking back at me.  
I shake my head. “It’s not you. It’s me. I’m just having trouble controlling myself.”  
He looks confused. “What does that mean?” He asks.  
“Just something I need to work on.” I say back quickly.  
Dusk grabs his chin again and hmm’s. “I could use that information gathering spell I’ve got? We could see if that helps at all.”  
Am I alright with that? He’s already used it on me if he knew about me having to land the killing blow on dragons. Besides, I trust him.  
I nod. “Ok. See what it tells you.”

(Dusk)

Svarline The Dragonborn of Legend  
The Last Dragonborn  
Level- 111  
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)  
HP- 8265  
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)  
\- Soul Devouring(When absorbing a dragon soul, if the dragonborn dealt the killing blow, the dragonborn steals more than the dragon's knowledge. Siphoning the dead beasts strength and power for their own. Can be used to obtain a number of benefits.)  
Thoughts about you- She’s nervous that you’ll reject her because of her Dragon side. She doesn’t want to lose you.

Nothing new aside from the thoughts.  
“It’s not telling me anything it didn’t before.” I say to Svar.  
Her shoulders droop and her head hangs a little. “It was worth a shot I guess.”  
And she’s depressed now. I’m guessing it has something to do with the whole rejection thing.  
“Hey.” I say. “We’ll figure out a way to help you. I’m not going to leave you out to dry just because you’ve got a little baggage. We’ll figure this out.”  
Her whole face lights up and she throws her arm around me. She holds me for a long time, before she quietly says, “Thank you.”  
Let’s see if that helped.

Svarline The Dragonborn of Legend  
The Last Dragonborn  
Level- 111  
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)  
HP- 8265  
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)  
\- Soul Devouring(When absorbing a dragon soul, if the dragonborn dealt the killing blow, the dragonborn steals more than the dragon's knowledge. Siphoning the dead beasts strength and power for their own. Can be used to obtain a number of benefits.)  
Thoughts about you- Love. You’re hers.

Oh.  
That’s why this was bugging her so much.  
Well that explains a lot. As a side note, I’m an idiot.

(Interlude: Ranje)

Why do I always get stuck with the night shift? Every Oblivion damned time someone needs to stay after, every one of the fuckers votes my ass up.  
Bastards.  
I sigh. At least Joftrr and I are finally heading on that trip tomorrow. The monotony of it all was really starting to piss me off. Been wanting to visit the Eldergleam since I was a girl, and we’ve finally got enough saved up to pay for the trip. Even if it took almost two full years.   
Guard’s pay sucks ass after all.  
I continue on my patrol of the city and count the minutes until I get to go home.  
I’m finishing my last pass by Moorside Inn when I hear groaning coming from the back alley.  
I sigh. Couldn't have got drunk and passed out an hour ago could you buddy? Had to be now. Of course it had to be now. An hour ago would’ve been convenient.  
“Hey!” I call out from the entrance to the alley. “Get your lazy ass up and get home! I don’t want to have to drag your drunk ass out of there, so do us both a favor and walk yourself home!”  
My only response is more groaning.  
I exhale through clenched teeth, and make my way down the alley. “Fuck this shit. Had to come out now, couldn't have got drunk two hours ago, could ya? Had to be now.”  
I see the fuck leaning up against the wall at the end of the alley.  
“Hey! You’d better not be pissing or I’m taking your ass in! You hearin’ me idiot?”  
I grab the man’s shoulder and pull him around to face me. I get a good look at him and shove him away.  
The man’s face is rotting off, his ribs are visible because his skin just isn’t there. There’s no organs either. Just a walking shell.  
“Shit!” I say and fumble with the enchanted alert bell on my belt. I’ve almost got it when I’m grabbed from behind and pulled to the ground, I lose track of the bell as it falls away from me.  
“Oh no no no. We can’t have you be doing that sweet thing.” A gentle female voice says from right above me.  
I struggle, trying to free myself from the pin but a fist connects with the back of my head hard enough to dent solid wood.  
I’m having trouble staying awake. I think the bitch said somethin else? Or is that the ringing ears?  
I feel a gentle kiss on my neck and fall asleep.

(Interlude: Esbern)

“Again.” The Justicar’s voice says from the right of the table I’m strapped to.  
I feel the blade enter my arm once more and cry out. Unable to hold my screams after weeks of unending torture.   
They would break my body, then heal it so they could break it again. I’m not sure how long it’s been since they found me. Since they brought me this cave in the middle of nowhere. I never see the sun anymore, so it’s hard to tell. It can’t have been a full month though.   
Right?  
“You know how to make this stop old man.” The woman sneers down at me. “Simply tell us everything you know about this, ‘Alduin’s Wall’ you mentioned in your journals. Do so, and we will release you.”  
I grit my teeth and keep my mouth closed.  
The Justicar lets out an over dramatic sigh. “Continue.” She says to the man beside her.  
Once again I cry out as the torturer uses the blade to lever my bicep from the bone.   
“I’m not sure what you are so keen on protecting old man.” The Justicar begins conversationally when my muscle has been pried off. “You are the last of your kind. Delphine has forsaken your organisation, choosing to serve Whiterun in order to save her skin. You have no one, nothing. Why do you protect an organisation that has both died out and betrayed you? Just tell us what we want to know, you’ll finally be free.”  
She’s right isn’t she? I’m alone. The last of a dead people. Delphine betrayed everything we stood for in order to save herself. I kept our histories to the bitter end, and what was my reward?!?! To be the ‘guest’ of these Thalmor dogs for weeks!!!   
I’m too old for this. I’m not strong enough for this. I just want to rest. Is that really so much to ask?  
“Ok.” I croak out through dried lips.  
“Excellent. Now where is it, and what is it?” I can hear the smile in her voice as the Justicar walks closer to me.  
I’m sorry.   
I tell her everything she wants to know, and am finally allowed to rest.

(Interlude: Mr. Brie)

Mr. Brie sat in its chair and gave its full attention to its most generous host.  
“Hah! He flew! Didja see? Hahaha! He finally realized that the floor is lava! No one can live in lava for too long now can they?!?!”  
Its silver haired host straightened out his beautiful burgundy dress as he nodded at his own wisdom.  
“This one’s fun!” His host cried. “He ain’t a Prisoner though. Must be the Prison itself!!! Why didn’t I think of it sooner?!?!” The host turned to the guest sitting next to Mr. Brie. “Take that down Mr. Muenster!!! It’s very important!!! Can’t afford to remember it now can we?!!?”  
The host stood from his chair and leapt upon the table.   
“Aww,” he said. “The little rascals taken to the role nicely wouldn’t you say Feta?”  
Feta continued sitting in its chair and did not respond.  
The host nodded sagely. “True true. It’s almost as if he was born to it!!!!” The host threw his arms wide and looked to the heavens, before hunching over and placing his hand on his chin.  
“Unless he wasn’t! Of course!!!! Ol’ Terra’s being tricky again! Tis the only question that satisfies the answer! My, she hasn’t been interested in our neck of the woods since she sent me here!!!” The host’s eyes look off into the distance as he fondly recalls his journeys. “Oh yes! Happy times!! All the stabbings!!! The flowers!!!! The stabbings!!!!! The jumping!!!!!! The STABBINGS!!!!!!! The courtings!!!!!!!! THE STABBINGS!!!!!!!!! That wonderful little fan I fed to the water!!!!!!!!!! THE STABBINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”   
The host sighs with a contented smile on his well featured face. He snaps his fingers and a long piece of parchment appears in his hand.  
“Let’s see here…. My shift keeping ‘ol godheady asleep….. Taking the fishies for a walk….. Putting a pin on Molag’s chair and being so quick I don’t get caught even though I’m on camera….. Pulling the sun out of the sky so it can join the tea party…… Making a sweet roll without cinnamon…… NOPE!!!!! Nothing important needs doing!!!!! The calendar says so!!!!!”   
The host holds the parchment out so his guests can read it. On its surface is the word ‘so’ and nothing else.  
“Guess that means I get to meet an ‘ol chum!!!!!” The host strokes his magnificent silver beard contemplatively. “Unless we aren’t chums until he’s been chummed… Hmm…Gouda! Your thoughts?”  
The host turns to the guest seated to Mr. Brie’s right, who keeps its silence.  
“Brilliant!!!!!!” The host cries as he leaps from the table. “Absolutely brilliant Gouda!!!!! I knew I kept you around for a reason!!!!!”  
The host flicks his wrists and a cane appears in his right hand, a top hat in his left, and his well made suit is exchanged for a black t-shirt with a bow tie and undershirt pictured on the front.  
“THEEEEEEEEEEEE BEST OOOF TIMES IS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!” The host sings beautifully offkey as he begins to dance his way out the door. Leaving his guests on their own.  
Mr. Brie just keeps on sitting in its chair. Awaiting the next time the silver haired man will be so gracious as to host it.


	10. 10

Serana, Svar, and I walk through the woods with a panting Mr. Rogers at our side.  
Serana pointed out that without knowing whether or not Svar and myself had bounties on our heads for the whole Whiterun fiasco, it would probably be a good idea to avoid the roads. So the four of us walk in a straight line heading directly to Sky Haven.  
“How has architecture gotten worse in the hundreds of years I’ve slept?” Serana asks in disbelief as she looks upon the small village that wasn’t in the game.   
The hill we stand on gives us a good view of the half dozen houses and large barn that stand on either side of a gently flowing stream.   
“Surely this is just because this town is so isolated, yes? The major cities have to be better?” The vampire turns pleadingly to Svar and myself.  
I laugh. “Sorry Serana. Of the settlements I’ve been to, they all very closely resemble what’s down there. The only difference is Whiterun had more buildings in its streets.”  
“Unbelievable.” Serana stares at the small town a moment longer before we carry on.  
I chuckle and follow after her. Svar slows down to walk beside me.  
“How much further until we get there?” She asks  
I pull out my map and check. “We’ve still got another day or two.” I say. “We’ve made pretty good time all considered.”  
The three of us plus Mr. Rogers had been travelling for four days already. Avoiding other travelers wherever possible. We would travel during the day with Serana covered by her cloak, and rest at night with Serana or myself keeping watch due to our lessened need to rest.   
As a very powerful vampire, Serana doesn’t need much rest, or blood. She can also resist the sunlight for a time even without her cloak. It still weakens her, but it doesn’t leave her unable to fight. I’d wager it’s a combination of her age and bloodline. You don’t get any purer than a Daughter of Coldharbour.  
“How long do you think we’ll stay there once we arrive?” Svar asks.  
I scrunch my eyebrows and think. “I don’t know really. It’s probably one of the best places we could ask for as far as headquarters go. It’s also a really good place to train. The both of us are getting better with Soul Magic, but we’re still far from proficient. If Serana’s willing, I’d like to stay there long enough for us to learn enough to be able to continue to teach ourselves even if she decides to leave.”  
“Then you still have quite a distance to go.” Serana says over her shoulder to us. Of course she can hear us.  
“If you wish to grow stronger, use the soul sense I taught you as we walk. Maintain it as long as you can, and continue your conversation while it is active.” Our teacher ordered.  
Svar sighs, but I feel her draw on her magic as I do the same.  
I shape the soul magic and focus it as Serana taught me. As the magic takes effect, I become much more aware of the souls around me. Serana’s ancient and refined presence, Svar’s draconic power, the various birds and other small animals around us, and even Mr. Roger’s content being.  
I look back to Svar and continue our conversation. “Any particular reason you want to know how long we’ll be there? Eager to hunt more dragons?”  
Svar shakes her head. “While fighting dragons is great and all, it’s finally starting to sink in just how many of them there are going to be. If the bitch was right, then they’re coming back to life. The last thing I want to do is piss off an entire species of powerful beings. Besides, the main reason I was so eager to hunt them to begin with was to get stronger. We’ve got Serana to teach us now.”  
“While you should take advantage of my presence, it would be stupid not too, do not presume that I will show you all I know out of a sense of boredom.” Serana speaks up once more. “There are a number of things I could do that do not involve either of you. I remain because you are both interesting, and I have already found myself in situations at your side I would be hard pressed to recreate on my own. Hold no illusions that I will leave you if you begin to bore me.”  
“Yes mother.” Svar quips back at her.  
Serana stops walking, and turns to Svar with a raised eyebrow. “What was that girl?”  
“I said I will keep it in mind mother.” Svar meets Serana’s gaze unflinching.  
Serana hums. “The dragon is getting the better of you again girl. Control yourself.” The vampire continues walking.  
Svar growls slightly, but takes in a few very deep breaths.  
“You good?” I ask her.  
She lets out a very long breath before she turns to me.. “I’ll be fine. This is just…. hard. Sometimes it’s obvious that it’s not me. Other times, it’s impossible to tell.”  
“I’m here if you need to talk.” I say.  
Svar gives me a grateful smile, and we both continue along.  
“Dusk.” Serana’s voice pulls my attention. “Close your eyes, cover your ears, and navigate using only your magic. I care not whether you use soul magic, electormancy, or both, only that you do not use your conventional senses.”  
I groan, but cut myself off when Serana’s red eyes stare back at me.  
“Got it.” I say. I pull a cloth from my inventory and use it as a blindfold while using electromancy to cover my ears in sparks. Creating white noise to block out every other sound out.   
I keep my soul magic sense active, and add my lightning magic to the mix. Feeling around for the various magnetic fields around me. This isn’t my first time walking like this, Serana is nothing if not an effective teacher, but that doesn't mean I'm good at it.  
This sucks.

(Svarline)

I feel Dusk’s magic probe the area around him as the blindfold settles over his eyes. Showing he has begun to navigate without his senses.  
“Your turn girl.” Serana says, drawing my attention to her. “I want you to meditate on your draconic magic once more. The more you use it, the easier it will be to know when it is influencing you. The more you are able to feel it urging you towards certain actions, the better you will be able to control yourself.”  
I hold back a sigh as I too begin to channel my magic. The thu’um is different from anything else I have ever learned. It’s almost as if it’s alive in a sense. The more I ponder it, the deeper my understanding. Increasing my power.  
It’s a very strange, yet comforting feeling.   
I focus as I walk and feel the words, the magic, resonating within me. Calling to me. Begging to be used, and whispering in my ear. It’s intoxicating.  
I’m pulled from my euphoria as I’m slapped in the face.  
I opened my eyes and turned my head back to see a stern faced Serana standing not a foot away from me. I growl at her.  
The vampiress scoffs at my attempt to intimidate her. “You’re going too deep girl. You control your power, not the other way around.” She puts her hand on her chin and hums as she looks at me. “You are gifted in a magic that is practically limitless in its applications. Once you are strong enough, there is no reason not to believe you won’t be able to speak things into being. The dragon’s language has a power to it, a power you wield with little effort. Make the most of it.” The vampire turns from me to walk in front of Dusk as he blindly navigates the forest.  
Dusk moves to walk around her, but she steps back into his path. Dusk stops and moves to go around her again, but the vampire casts a spell and re-enters his path. This time Dusk does not turn and walks right into her. The vampire doesn’t move, instead Dusk is pushed back. He stumbles and tries to catch himself but Serana sweeps his legs out from under him with her foot.  
He impacts the ground with a grunt and pulls his blindfold off.  
“What’s the point of this training if you’re just going to knock me down twenty seconds after I start?” Dusk asks as he pulls himself to his feet.  
Serana hums. “The point is to dodge. You will not improve if you are not pushed. If you do not appreciate my teachings, I will no longer offer them.”  
Dusk sighs and puts the blindfold back on, covering his ears with his lightning once more.  
The three of us and Mr. Rogers walked on for a good amount of time. Dusk blind and deaf, and myself meditating even as I walked.  
We continued on like this for the rest of the day, Serana occasionally creating obstacles for me and Dusk to overcome.   
The three of us came to a stop just before nightfall and set camp in a cave Serana used her magic to lead us to.  
“I will take the first watch.” Serana said as soon as we were situated before she turned to Dusk. “I will retrieve you to take over for me in four hours time.”  
Dusk nodded at her and she left. Leaving Dusk and I alone, with Mr Rogers already laying down in a corner.  
He lays down on the cave’s floor and I lie down next to him.  
“Dusk?” I say.  
He rolls over to look at me. “Ya?”  
“You want to travel around right? That was your goal?”  
He nods. “Ya. Go around and see whatever there is to see. Why?”  
I take a deep breath. “I want to go with you. When you figure out wherever it is you’re going, whatever it is you’re doing, I want to go with you. That’s my goal. I never got a chance to say it. I don’t want to lose you like I’ve lost everyone else.” I hold my breath as he studies me for a moment.  
He smiles. “Don’t worry. You’ll always be welcome.”  
I smile and wrap my arms around him as I go to sleep.

(Dusk)

I wake early for my shift and stand up carefully, so as not to disturb Svar.  
I look down at her and smile. I have no idea what to do about this situation. Do I like her? Yes. Do I like her like that? I’m not quite sure. She’s attractive, fun to be around, and I’m even starting to like her puns, as much as it kills me to admit it. But I’ve never really been in a relationship before. My only experience was three different weeklong ‘girlfriends’ in highschool who got with me to be able to change their Facebook status.  
Not exactly the greatest experience to draw lessons from.  
Deciding to think it over later, I sigh and walk out of the cave to relieve Serana.  
Not spotting her I look into the night and say, “I’m already up, so I might as well keep watch. You can go to sleep now.”  
“I think I will stay awake a mite longer.” A voice says from my left.  
I turn to see Serana casually strolling out from under a tree.  
Her red eyes glow in the dark as she speaks. “I’ve slept for centuries, I can stand to remain awake a moment longer.”  
I hesitate. “So, should I go back to sleep then?”  
She smiles, showing off her fangs in the process. “I would like to speak with you if that would be possible.”  
I shrug and sit down on a nearby rock. “What about?”  
She sits down next to me but remains silent. Studying me.  
After a minute of silence she speaks up.  
“You are not a seer.” It’s not a question. “Which begs the question, what are you? How do you know so much? It is an intriguing mystery.”  
I gulp as she leans in a little closer. “Well I’d hate to spoil an intriguing mystery…”  
She smiles, and suddenly disappears.   
I look around but freeze as I feel a breath on the back of my neck.  
“Svarline might be content to follow at your heels, forever in the dark as to your motives, but I am not. How did you know where to find me? How do you know of an ancient sealed tomb that can only be accessed with a dragonborn's blood? How did you know the location of two Elder Scrolls? How do you know the location of a third Elder Scroll?” I feel a strong hand grip my shoulder.  
Thank god for Gamer’s Mind or I’d have pissed myself by now. I have no illusions about who would win if we threw down.  
Also how the fuck does she know I know where a third one is?!?!  
“I’ve seen a lot of ways the world can turn out. Lot’s of different versions of it too.” I say being honest. “I know a lot more than I’ve already said, but I’m keeping most of it to myself.”  
Serana hums as she sits down next to me, opposite where her grip on my shoulder is. To anyone else, it would look like she’s wrapped an arm around my shoulder.  
Our position is anything but comforting.  
“Do you mean me any ill will?” She asks seriously as she looks out into the night.  
“No.” I answer immediately. “I have no intention of harming you, or using you for anything, aside from the training you’re already providing.”  
She hums again. “What about my family? I’m sure you know at least something about them. Do you have any intentions towards them?”  
Welp, she can tell if I’m lying, so I have to be truthful. Really hope I live through the night.  
Being honest, I say. “I want your father dead. He’ll grow to be a threat to the entire world if he’s left unchecked, but I don’t feel the same about your mother. If she doesn’t bug me, I won’t bug her.”  
Serana doesn’t answer. The only perceivable sound in the night is the music of chirping crickets.  
Eventually, the grip on my shoulder loosens. “Good.” Serana says. “I cannot say I hold any love for my father. I was never anything but a tool to him, but my mother is off limits. I will not pry into your secrets, even though you seem to know mine, but do not cross me Dusk. I can be a great ally, or your worst enemy.” She hisses the last sentence.  
“I won’t.” I respond back to her.  
She turns to look at me and smiles. “Good. You are very interesting. I’d hate to have to kill you.” She begins walking away, but stops and turns back around. “Oh, and Dusk? Do not play with Svarline’s feelings. I can tell you have little to no experience with these matters, but I can also tell you are attracted to her in turn. Treat her well.” She chuckles and disappears with a *woosh*.  
I take in a deep breath, then slowly let it out.  
Why the hell did I wake her up again?  
I use my soul sense and my electromancy to keep watch as I wait for sunrise.

When day breaks we start back on our way. Nothing too interesting happens. Svar and I keep practising our magic while Serana makes it more difficult.  
A little after noon, we crest a hill and get our first look at our destination.  
“This isn’t right.” I say, drawing my companions' attention.  
“What do you mean.” Svar asks.  
“There should be Forsworn populating that camp down there. Why is it empty?”  
The three of us look down at a very large, very abandoned, camp. Filled with fur tents, wooden walkways that run over the flowing river, and quite a few large fire pits.  
Everything seems normal except for the lack of people. There is no smoke, no destruction, nothing that would indicate a fight took place.  
Serana sniffs the air and turns to look at me. “Blood. Many people were killed fairly recently, two hours ago at most.”  
Svar and I instantly go on guard as we look around ourselves.   
“Could someone be obscuring the camp with magic?” I ask Serana but she shakes her head.  
“Unless they were a master, I would feel the magic. It is more likely the bodies have been moved, and the blood cleaned, but why would someone go to such lengths to hide their presence?”  
“Because they know about what’s hidden here.” I finish, following Serana’s logic.  
She nods. “This place is not as secure as you believed it to be.”  
I grab my chin. “But who the hell found this place?!?! The only other person I know of who knows its location would be….” I trail off.  
Without following the main questline, there wouldn’t be a dragonborn to save Esbern from the Thalmor. No one would even know they located him, and the Thalmor aren’t exactly kind to their prisoners.  
Fuck.  
“It’s the Thalmor.” I say.  
Serana hums. “So they’re still around? Are they as pompous as I remember?”  
I clench my hands into fists as I reply. “Worse. The Aldmeri Dominion became a High Elven supremacist government. They’ve been trying to enslave the rest of Tamriel for the last century or so.”   
Serana’s eyes widened. “That is extreme even for them.”  
Svar looks confused. “Wait, back up.” She says. “How do you know it’s the Thalmor, and what do we do now?”  
I look over at her. “The only other person who knows about this place is an old Blade named Esbern. The Thalmor have been hunting him for years, they must have finally caught him. As for what we’re going to do, I don’t know. I’d like to avoid pissing off any other major political powers, but at the same time, I hate the Thalmor, and I really don’t want them to have control of Sky Haven.”  
Serana hums. “Then it seems we will be killing some elves yes?”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You’re ok with pissing off a major faction just like that?”  
She shrugs. “I do not care what elves think of me, and I am more than strong enough to look after myself. I would, however, ask that you store this with your blade until we have dealt with them.” She says as she unstraps the Elder Scroll from her back and hands it out to me.  
“That’s an awful lot of trust you’re putting in me.” I hesitantly reach my hand out.  
Serana chuckles. “You will not try to keep it. It scares you, and you already have one of your own. Even if you wanted it, I scare you more than you would desire to keep it.”  
Fairly logical when you put it like that.  
I take the Scroll and place it in my inventory.  
Svar looks almost giddy. “So we’re killing the Thalmor?”   
I nod. “You seem excited.”  
Svar’s eyes harden. “One of the groups I used to run with was killed by these assholes. That, and they’re trying to take something that belongs to the dragonborn. Belongs to me. I know that’s the dragon soul talking, but it still pisses me off.”  
Serana looks her over. “Just be sure you keep it controlled girl. We do not want you to become a liability in any upcoming fights because you grew too enraged.” The vampiress cautions.  
Svar nods, and the three of us plus Mr. Rogers begin to sneak towards the encampment.  
I activate my soul sense and start to feel for magnetic fields.  
I feel Svar and Serana both pull on their own magic and assume they’re using some form of detection magic as well.  
We make it down to the camp without finding anyone, so I lead us towards the cave that will give us access to Sky Haven.  
We come up to the cave when Serana puts a hand on mine and Svar’s shoulders, stopping us.   
She holds up two fingers, and indicates two different spots at the entrance to the cave.  
I focus my magic there and feel two people. One is wearing something that is enchanted, and the other I can’t feel any magic coming from.  
I turn to Svar and wave to get her attention. I mime casting a spell and cover my ears.  
She seems to understand my intent and gets ready to silence the area with her alteration magic. Serana and I each take up positions close to the two elves and wait for Svar’s signal.  
Svar motions for us to go and casts her spell.  
Serana uses her vampiric speed to close the distance to her target and breaks his neck without the snapping sound which typically accompanies such an action.  
I use my now available Godspeed and move up to my target at the speed of lightning. I shove a Chidori through his head but no chirping birds are heard thanks to Svar’s magic.  
Serana and I quickly pull our kills back out of the cave and regroup with Svar.  
I make a very interesting observation while the two of us pull our kills back. Serana is faster than Godspeed. Serana is faster than lightning. Not by much, and I could probably overcome the gap by overcharging the spell and myself with electromancy mastery, but the fact she can move a third the speed of light gives me a lot to think about.  
Goddamn there are some massive power gaps in this world.  
We return to Svar and look over the bodies. It’s quite clear that these two are Thalmor from their clothing and high elven features. The enchantment I sensed was coming from my target's robe. It seems to be a weak enchantment to improve fire magic. Must’ve been a mage.   
I inventory all their gear, then take the bodies.  
“We don’t know how many more there are, or if there are more coming, so we should hurry.” I say to my companions.  
Serana nods. “Svarline, of the three of us you are the slowest, so you won’t be as quick to escape if we are ambushed. Watch our backs in case more come through behind us. Dusk and I will lead.”  
Svar and I nod and we begin into the cave, keeping our sensing magic up.  
As we move through the cave and into a larger area, it becomes clear where all the Forsworn ended up. Men, women, children, and hagravens all lie dead in a large pile around the cave’s first corner. There are at least a hundred bodies, but it’s really hard to tell the exact number because of what the Thalmor did to the corpses.   
They cut up all of the bodies. Presumably to make them easier to carry all the way up into the cave. There’s a small child’s arm on the floor in front of the pile.  
The Thalmor must have brought all of the dead in here in an attempt to hide them.  
I hear a growl from behind me, and turn to see Svar staring at the pile.  
She turns to me with smoke drifting up from her shoulders and says, “We kill them all.”  
I nod. “We will, but make sure you keep your head. If they were able to kill this many warriors who had a home field advantage, we can’t underestimate them. I think we should be able to take them out without too much trouble, but we've still got to play it safe and smart.”  
Svar nods, and the three of us continue on.  
I had unsummoned Mr. Rogers at the entrance. If we need him, I’d like for him to be a surprise.  
We walk for a while longer before I sense a large gathering of souls in the area ahead of us.  
I look to Serana and she nods, having sensed it as well. She deftly creeps over to me and whispers very quietly in my ear. “I will see how many there are. Be ready in case they spot me.” With that she disappears from my sight, but I sense her soul moving away. Invisibility of some kind most likely.  
I motion Svar up, and the two of us duck behind a large boulder.  
A few minutes pass before Serana rejoins us. Speaking in a regular voice, she says, “They are too far to hear us, so do not worry about giving our position away. There is a group of around three dozen in the next chamber, most of which are warriors. There are two mages with them, but they are fairly weak. The chamber after that is a different story. There were eight very potent mages all fiddling with seven spinning pillars. I believe they were trying to unlock the way further in, but I’m not sure how close they are to moving on.”  
Seven pillars? Hope the solution’s the same.  
I grab my chin. “So do we rush them? We can take the warriors out no problem with speed alone. The mages might be more tricky, but they shouldn’t be able to beat how fast we are right?”  
I’m really hesitant to tangle with what Serana considers a ‘potent’ mage. Especially a ‘potent’ Elder Scrolls mage. Strong enough mages can reality warp like crazy in this setting.  
Serana shakes her head. “I don’t know. The group in the second room were all quite potent. It would not do to overestimate the advantage our speed grants, and underestimate their own strength.”  
Svar looks to Serana. “What if I use my shout to drain their power? You two could rush in after that.”  
I nod. “We do the same trick with sound we did at the entrance with the first group. Drop the warriors while all sound is muted, so the mages don’t know we’re coming, then Svar weakens them while we run through them.”  
Serana considers this for a moment, before nodding. “Very well. I don’t see any problems with it.”  
The three of us creep into position at the entrance to the next area and Svar holds up three fingers, two fingers, one finger….  
She clenches her fist and Serana and I move.  
Half of the guards fall to a mixture of my Chidori and Serana’s sword before any realize what’s going on. By the time the first one is able to draw his weapon, all of the rest of the warriors and the two mages are dead.   
Serana comes to a stop behind him and sinks her fangs into his neck. She then proceeds to drain him dry.  
The elf opens his mouth and screams, but no sound escapes him thanks to Svar.  
Serana releases the shriveled corpse and the guard collapses without a sound. She lets out a silent sigh, and motions Svarline and myself forwards.  
As we move to the other end of the chamber, I inventory all of their equipment and bodies. I can smelt down the gear, or use them to experiment with dangerous enchantments eventually.  
We move through the cave and I sense a gathering of magic in the chamber ahead of us.  
“Why didn’t you leave the old man alive Ciranye?!?!” Comes an angry shout from the direction we’re heading. “He might have known how to bypass this infernal contraption.”  
“Patience.” A female voice responds. “We don’t need him. If needs must, we’ll simply cut our way through. We need a new headquarters after what happened to the embassy.”  
I pause confused.  
What happened to the embassy? Might have to leave her alive.  
I motion Svar up, and Serana and I get ready.   
Being this close, all three of us can sense where the elves are in the next room using our various forms of magic.   
Svar holds up her hand, and once more silently counts down from three.   
The moment she clenches her fist she steps into the chamber and shouts out, “GAAN LAH HAAS!!!!!” Lilac energy billows forth from her form and washes over the assembled elves.  
The Thalmor are thrown into disarray as the thu’um washes over them, leaving them weakened. Several collapse as their power is slowly drained away, but some are able to remain upright. They try to cast spells towards Svar but Serana and I are already on them.  
With them unable to move quickly, we easily dispatch them, but I leave the woman who was speaking alive. Cutting off her arms and legs with Chidori so she will no longer be a threat. The lightning cauterizes the wounds, ensuring she won’t bleed out.  
Serana looks over to me from where she dropped her newest meal and raises an eyebrow. “Well I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting that. Do you plan to send her back to her superiors as a message?” She asks amused.  
“No.” I say then turn to the screaming elf. “I want information.”  
I pull out a pain resistance potion I made and pour it over the Thalmor’s stumps.  
“Here’s what’s going to happen bitch.” I growl at her. “You tell me everything I want to know, then I kill you. If you don’t tell me everything I want to know, you spend a week in excruciating pain, then I kill you. You die either way, all that changes is how much it hurts. So, what happened at the embassy?”  
The woman snarls. “To Oblivion with you filth!” She spits at me, but I vaporize the saliva with my lightning.  
I sigh and pull out the counter to the pain negation potion. “Hard way it is.” I pour the potion over her and she begins screaming once more.  
“Let me.” Serana says as she walks up. “Blood magic is quite useful for endeavors such as these.” She holds her hand out and the elf’s eyes widen as she begins to scream her throat raw.  
Svar walks up next to me. “The vampire’s pretty good at this.” She says as we both watch.  
“She is a master mage who was hundreds of years old before she went to sleep.” I say back.  
“STOOOP!!!!!” The elf screams after only a minute, prompting Serana to smile.  
“All yours.” She says as she casually walks away from the drooling elf.  
I crouch down next to the limbless elf and repeat my question. “What happened at the embassy?”  
“Jarl…. Solitude….. burned….. down….. treason…” The elf gasps out.  
Huh. Wasn’t expecting that.  
“How’d you know where this place is?” I ask.  
“Old… Blade….. told us…”   
“Is he still alive?” I ask.  
Her silence answers my question.  
I’m not too put out. While he wasn’t as bad as Delphine, Esbern was a bit of an ass. Anyone who wants me to kill Paarthurnax automatically gets an asshole card.  
Doesn’t mean I wanted the man tortured to death.  
“Did you tell anyone else where this place was?” I ask the crying elf.  
“No.” She moans. “Not enough…. time…”   
I look over to Serana. “Was she lying at any point?”  
Serana looks over at me. “No. While her heart rate is understandably erratic, I have other methods to determine whether or not someone is telling the truth.”  
“Cool. So, I guess that means I’m done with you.” I say, turning back to the armless, legless elf.  
She begins crying again.  
“I’m not.” A smoking Svar says as she walks forward holding a small fur shirt. She kneels down next to the elf and drops the article in front of her face. “I’m not a hero, nor will I ever become one, but some shit just doesn’t fly with me.” She growls as she kicks the elf in the stomach. “I don’t kill kids, and I abhor assholes that do. Let alone sick fucks who think cutting them up is ok.” She begins to use her alteration magic.  
The stone floor of the cave opens up like a set of stone jaws. Unable to move away, the elf is slowly swallowed by the floor.   
The elf screams and squirms but it does no good.  
“You’re going to stay there till you die.” Svar says coldly. “Hope you had a nice life bitch.”  
The stone closes over her and her screams cut out.  
Well, the last five minutes were extremely fucking dark.  
Serana hums, drawing my attention. “I must say, that was much more macabre then I would have expected, but it is good to know the two of you are not afraid to get your hands dirty. That will keep you alive in the life you have chosen to lead.”  
I walked up behind Svar and put a hand on her shoulder. “You ok?” I ask.  
“Later.” She says with gritted teeth. “It can wait until we’re safe inside this place.”  
I nod and walk over to the stones. There are seven of them, with each pillar having eight separate faces. Really hope the solution is the same.   
I grab the pillars and turn them all to the Akaviri symbol for dragonborn, and a wall of the cave opens up.  
Letting out a relieved sigh, I proceed through the rest of the traps from memory. The fire trap was a lot longer but had the same solution. Nothing else really standing out except for the fact that the cave is much different from the one in the game. A fact I’ve come to expect.  
We come to a portion of the cave that is blocked with a giant face, and I motion Svar forward.  
I point to the circle on the ground. “You need to bleed into that for the door to open.”  
She nods and moves to the circle. She pulls out a small knife and cuts her forearm, bleeding into the circle.  
The blood begins to glow and a large *clank* echoes through the cave as the release triggers. The giant face pulls back and a staircase is revealed.  
Serana studies the circle and the door before standing aside and motioning us forward. “After you.” She says.  
Svar and I walk up the stairs and open the door at the end of them.  
Sky Haven, as expected, is much different from in the game. It’s a lot more eroded for one, but it’s also much larger. The foyer is larger than the cave we fought the mages in, and leads to several different hallways. I don’t see Alduin’s Wall in here either. Must be further in.  
Serana looks around with a wide smile on her face. “I think I will leave you two alone for now.” She says. “I’m quite interested in exploring this place, but I will take my Scroll back first.”  
She holds her hand out expectantly and I give the Elder Scroll back.  
She straps the Scroll on her back, and walks down one of the halls and out of sight.  
“Do you think there’s a place to sleep in here?” Svar asks me.  
I nod and look around. “There should be, it’s just a matter of finding it.”  
The two of us wander through the halls aimlessly until we eventually come to a comparatively small room lined with fur beds. Most of them have decayed into nothing, but a few of them are still serviceable.   
Svar pushes two of the nicer ones together and lies down, motioning for me to join her.  
I do, and we just lie there in silence for a while. Side by side, staring at the ceiling.  
“Was it too much?” Svar asks me suddenly.  
I give a half-hearted chuckle. “What you did or what I did?”  
“Either? Both?” She says.  
I take in a breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t think so. I’m honestly more surprised I was able to dismember someone that easily than I’m feeling regretful.”  
Svar relaxes and lets out a breath she was holding. “So you don’t think I went too far? I realized after it happened that I was very dragony while it was happening. Did I screw up?”  
I let out a chuckle. “No, I don’t think you screwed up, and it’s kind of understandable you lost a little control. I mean, you’re asking me if I think slowly suffocating in a cave is a fitting punishment for someone who cut up a bunch of kids? Yes, it is. Some people might not like how we handled it, but fuck ‘em. The only thing I’m kind of put off about is, again, how little I care about how easy it was for me to maime her.” Must be Gamer’s Mind in action. I would be freaking out without it.  
Svar lets out a sigh as she continues. “They were all monsters, and while I’m not exactly a saint, I’m glad they didn’t get away with what they did here.”  
“I don’t know. I don’t like that it was that easy for me to torture someone, but at the same time I can’t bring myself to regret it. They butchered families just to get to this place. We might’ve had to fight our way through, but I don’t see myself cutting up kids like they did.”  
She rolls over to look at me. “It’s the same way for me. I know that elf isn’t going to die for about a day, but I just can’t bring myself to care. I almost think she got off too easy.”  
I nod, and we fall back into silence.  
I’m starting to fall asleep when Svar speaks up again.  
“Dusk?” She says.  
“Ya?”  
“Thanks.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “For what?”  
She looks me in the eyes. “I’d be dead a thousand different ways by now if it weren’t for you. I wouldn’t be nearly as strong as I am, and I wouldn’t be this happy. So thanks.”  
I smile at her. “You’re welcome, and thank you for sticking with me. It’s been nice to have someone I can count on.”  
She moves closer to me, until we’re only inches apart.  
She opens her mouth to say something, but closes it again.  
“What?” I ask.  
She looks at me for a moment longer, before she closes the distance and presses her lips against mine.  
I freeze for a moment, but get myself under control quickly.  
I smile against her lips and pull her closer, deepening the kiss.  
We stay like that for a long time. Or maybe it’s just moments. I don’t really pay attention to the time.  
Svar eventually pulls away and takes in a long breath. She looks over at me with a large smile on her face.  
I smile back and pull her closer.  
“Good night Svar.” I say against her hair.  
“Goodnight Dusk.”

(Interlude: Movarth)

The ‘siege’ of Morthal went splendidly. It barely took a week. By the time our infiltration was found out, and the alarm was raised, over half of the defenders had already been converted one way or another.  
Those who were not sired by my children, were killed and risen by my Lady.   
The city is now completely under our control.  
I smile as I take in the sight before me. Hundreds of mortals kneeling in the town square. All those who were not turned or killed have been brought before our Lady to receive her judgement.  
“Good people,” The body of Alva begins. “you have been led astray by your leadership. You have been allowed to grow weak, expected to roll over at the first sign of trouble. I say no more! I will lead you to greener pastures! You fear these dragons? We will bring the beasts down. Together! All you need do is accept me as your queen once more! I was gone, defeated, and I was not there when you needed me, but I am here now! Stronger than ever! Together, we can make Skyrim strong once more!”  
A high pitched cackle echoes throughout the courtyard once my Lady is done speaking.  
I growl, and my eyes zero in on the source. The old woman who once ruled as Jarl is laughing, even as she coughs up blood.  
“The bitch actually thinks any of us will follow her willingly!” The crone says with cheer. “There’s a reason you died bitch! Wow, I just realized how apt a name for you that is. Female wolf, bitch. It fits quite well don’t you think bitch?”  
I use my vampiric speed to appear before the fallen ruler in the blink of an eye. I grab her by her throat and raise her into the air.  
“What punishment would you have her serve my Lady?” I ask as I turn to look at the Wolf Queen.  
Alva’s lips smile as she slowly makes her way over to me. “Release her Movarth.”  
I do as directed and let the old crone drop, stepping back to give my Lady space.  
The crone just keeps laughing. If she isn’t careful the lack of air will get to her.  
The Wolf Queen comes to a stop in front of the old crone and kneels down to look her in the eye.  
“You don’t fear me, do you woman?” my Lady asks.  
The crone ceases her laughing and smiles at The Wolf Queen. “I’m too old to be intimidated by a ghost with an overinflated sense of ego. If you’re going to kill me just get it over with would you? I’m not interested in hearing you whisper sweet nothings into the ears of my people.”  
The Queen smiles and moves in close to the crone. “You.” She says. “You are perfect.” Alva’s fangs sink into the crone’s neck and begin to drain her.  
The old woman doesn’t fight, simply waiting for the end.  
My Lady removes her fangs from the woman, and uses them to cut her own arm. She offers it out to the crone and speaks.  
“Skyrim cannot afford weakness, nor can it afford cowardice while combating this threat. You will be one of my greatest general’s. Standing beneath only myself and Movarth, all you need do is drink.”  
The old woman looks into the Wolf Queen’s eyes and says, “I won’t be your puppet. You don’t care about Morthal, nor do you care for Skyrim. You just want something pretty you can call yours. I’m not doing your dirty work for you bitch, so you might as well kill me.”  
I growl at the continued insults but my Lady holds up her hand. I stand down.  
My Lady looks to the crone and smiles evilly. “Oh dear woman, you don’t have a choice.”  
The crone tries to back away but my Lady pries her mouth open and forces the crone to drink the crimson fluid.  
My Lady backs off slightly and begins to stroke the crone’s hair. “You will be mine, and you will help me reclaim all that was taken from me.”  
The crone begins to scream as the transformation begins, and my Lady allows herself a victorious smile.  
“Movarth.” Potema says. “Set a rotating guard shift to monitor and patrol the city. I expect the other holds will grow curious when Morthal suddenly goes quiet, and I’d prefer the strength of our forces to remain secret for as long as possible. Take care of this.” She orders.  
I smile and offer the Wolf Queen a bow. “As you command my Lady.” I excuse myself and move towards where my children have gathered to pass on my orders.  
Oh how I’ve missed this. I can’t wait to see how quickly the remaining holds fall.

(Interlude: Bailynn the Messenger)

I crest the hill before ordering my horse to stop. I take a deep breath and dismount, tying my horse to a nearby tree so he doesn’t run off.  
I slowly walk towards the large gathering of tents with my hands visible.  
“Halt!” A voice shouts from the camp. It seems I’ve been spotted. “State your business!”  
“I’m a messenger from Solitude!” I call back, hoping they don’t put an arrow in me. “I’m here to deliver a letter from Jarl Elisif the Fair to Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak!”  
A man walks out in front of the tents to address me. “We’ve sent for the Jarl. If you try anything, you’ll get a bolt through the chest. Do you understand?”  
“Yes.” I reply, and the two of us begin our wait.  
A few minutes go by when a large man with dirty blonde hair steps out in front of the tents. “What does Elisif want? To mock me, and my people, in our darkest hour?” The man all but growls.  
I do my best to keep from shaking. “I don’t know sir! I was told to approach peacefully and deliver this missive!” I say as I slowly pull the letter from my satchel, being careful not to spook them into action.  
The Jarl tears the letter from my hands and opens it in front of me as he begins to read. His eyes widen, and he begins to outright laugh.  
Oh that can’t be good.  
“Galmar!” The man calls out. “Looks like Elisif finally grew a spine! I might actually have respect for her now.” He looks back to me and says, “You can go now.” before continuing to walk back to the tents.  
“We’ve got work to do my brothers and sisters!” The Jarl calls out as he rejoins his people.  
Fearing for my life, I quickly walk back to my horse and don’t look back as I gallop away.   
I really need to look into a safer career.

(Interlude: Jarl Siddgeir of Falkreath)

This peasant is becoming annoying.  
“As I have already said, I care not what Solitude believes to be best for my hold. I will continue to rule it as I see fit. Now leave my presence, and take your missive with you.” I wave my hand in the direction of the door.  
The messenger grits his teeth and turns to leave without another word.  
“Is this truly wise my Jarl?” The steward Ninya asks from my side. “Many of our farms have reported spotting the dragons flying towards the city, and some have even made reports of the creatures carrying off their cattle.”  
I sigh and turn to look at the foolish woman. “I do not care about a small number of farm animals. If the dragons are content to keep their attention focused on our livestock, I am more than happy to leave them be. I will not be joining whatever suicidal scheme Elisif has thought up to fight the beasts.”  
The elf takes a breath, “But my Jarl…”  
“That will be all steward.” I interrupt with another wave of my hand.  
She bites her tongue and walks off.  
I sigh once more and lean back in my chair.   
What madness has Elisif fallen ill to that she truly believes the best way to deal with the dragons is to hunt them down? All that will do is make them more aggressive. It is a much better plan to simply fortify my city, and pull all guards back to defend it.  
The peasants residing in my hold, but outside the city, will be given ample time to relocate before I bar the gates shut.  
Truly, the other Jarls are over thinking this.  
Ulfric’s ilk were most likely poking the things with a stick, it’s no wonder they would lash out.  
If we leave them be, they have no reason to harm us.  
I smile to myself and take another sip of my wine.  
It won’t be long before this blows over, and I’m able to continue my business as normal.

(Interlude: Paarthurnax)

I sit atop the mountain I have grown to call home and let out a sigh.  
I can see much with my draconic eyes from Snow Throat’s peak, and what I see spells ill for the mortal races.  
My eldest sister wakes more of our kin every passing day, and the mortals are still organising their response. Some of them even outright refuse to work with their fellows, while others attempt to drive wedges between already precarious alliances.  
This age will surely fall if things continue as they are.  
I sigh and look out to the west.  
The champion should have sought out the council of my students by now, but she has been diverted by a combination of factors.  
She now believes the mortals wish her dead due to the actions of those living to the north of my home.  
I fear the Dovahkiin will not interfere at all in this conflict if she is not informed of the gravity of the situation.  
I sigh once more.  
I did not wish to involve myself so heavily in this conflict. I was to simply be a guide for the one who would lead their people to prosperity, but now I must intervene. If I do not, this world will fall, and while I am not sure that would be a bad thing, I must at least give this world its chance to survive.  
If the chosen will not come to me, then I will go to her.  
I stand tall and spread my wings. Taking one last breath of the mountain air, I leap from my perch and fly towards the last point I spotted the Dovahkiin and her companions. It will take time to track her, but I will find her.  
I will see to it that this world has its chance.

(Interlude: Urlin)

“To the end of the world!!!” I cry out to my friends.  
“To the end of the world!!!” They cry back, and we all take a long swig from our bottles.  
I look around the forest clearing we’ve come to and look over our group.   
A fourth of us are already passed out, and the rest are trying to slyly sneak off to fuck in the bushes. Drunk nords don’t do ‘sly’ very well.  
How long have we been out here? It was Morndas when we saw the dragon, then we left two days after, and we’ve been drinking for a while, soooo Morndas? I don’t know. Haven’t been paying attention to the time. Doesn’t matter anyway, we’ll all get eatin’ sooner or later. Might as well go out enjoying yourself eh?  
I take another long drag from my bottle and sit down on a log. I look up at the stars and think over my life.   
It’s been pretty good right? I don’t regret too much. Still kicking myself for letting Eisaa go though. She was something special.  
I sigh and go to take another drag when a loud shout interrupts me.  
“SURPRISE!!!!!!” A man explodes out of a fresh made hole in the ground. “I’m here to WELCOME YOU TO….. Who the hell are you people?!?!!!?”  
The entire clearing turns to look at the new arrival.  
Standing in front of the hole which he just vacated, is a very handsome man in a red suit and pants. He has silver hair, and a matching beard, and he carries a black cane in one hand. He’s also wearing a cheese wheel on his head.  
What?  
The man looks around and scratches his beard. “This doesn’t seem right….. Would any of you happen to have six fingers on your right hand??!?!” He asks us completely seriously.  
A long silence passes before I speak up.  
“Ummm, I don’t think so?” I’d think he was a product of the alcohol, if everyone else wasn’t also speechless.  
“Well Molag’s tits!!!! Where in the Nine Hells did I end up???!?!?” The man brings his free hand up and snaps his fingers. With a soft *pop* a long piece of parchment appears in it.  
The man hangs his cane on his elbow and looks at the large paper. “Let’s see here….” The man hmm’s and haaa’s as he looks over the paper.   
“…. AHA! I’ve got it!!!!” He suddenly cries out. “I forgot to turn left at Albuquerque!!!!!! You can’t get anywhere without turning left at Albuquerque!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder I’m lost!!!! Unless being lost makes me found??!?!? Hmmmm……” The man throws the paper over his shoulder and continues to scratch his bearded chin.  
He looks over the clearing until his eyes fall on me. His eyes widen, and all of a sudden the man is only inches from me.  
I cry out and fall off the log, but the man bends at the waist and follows my head to the ground.  
“You wouldn’t happen to have a shoe would you?” He calmly asks with a tilted head.  
“Uh…”  
“MARVELOUS!!!!!” The man reaches out with his hand and, faster than I can see, removes both of my boots from my feet.  
The man smiles at me and says, “Much appreciated!!!!!! Now watch closely, I learned this in the Cub Scouts!!!!” His smile turns into a manic grin as he raises both boots above his head, before swinging his arm down and throwing the shoes into the ground.  
An echoing *BOOM* occapanies the action, and myself and several of my friends are blown away by the impact.  
I groan and slowly pull myself back to my feet. I turn to look back over at the man, and see him leaned over a newly created crater as he intently studies the contents.  
He stands there for a full minute. My friends and I are all too scared to move or make a sound.  
Finally, the man rights himself and jumps into the air exclaiming, “I’VE DONE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!”  
The man throws his arms wide and takes off running into the forest.  
He runs and collides with trees that collapse the moment he touches them, laughing maniacally all the while.  
We all just stand there and watch the direction the man ran off in for a good ten minutes before the sound of laughter and collapsing forest finally gets too far away to hear.  
“Did that just fucking happen?” Lynlin asks. Much calmer than she has any right to be.  
“Divines.” I say with an open mouth. “It truly is the end times.”


	11. 11

Sky Haven is pretty damn awesome.  
Svar, Serana, and I spent the last week or so wandering around the mountain fortress and still haven’t explored it all. While the Sky Haven in the game could house a small advance force, this place was built to house the entire freaking army. It is massive.  
We’ve explored a good portion of it, but it’s like the Misty Mountain in that the complex spans the entire mountain. We’ve found several personnel quarters, quite a few training areas, armories full of rusted armor and weaponry that I could probably restore with my Blacksmith class, a few war rooms, supply rooms with long rotted food, and even a room with enchanting supplies and alchemy equipment which probably belonged to the one mage the Blades decided to keep around.   
Still haven’t managed to find a vault though. I want treasure dammit.  
We did, however, happen across Alduin’s wall. Whereas in the game it was roughly 20’x8’, here it takes up an entire cave wall. It’s easily 50’x30’ and the people who made it would have had to use ladders to carve the entire upper half. I wasn’t all that interested in it, given that I know everything it tells already, but it was still a cool find.  
Another interesting find took place when I saw Mr. Rogers walk by with a katana in his mouth.

Dragonbane  
Rare Item  
Deals STR + 20 Slashing/Piercing Damage per hit  
Deals INT + 20 Shock Damage per hit  
When used against a dragon, Deals LVL x 2 extra Slashing/Piercing Damage per hit

While the extra damage is likely better than Ascalon’s given I don’t know Svar’s WIS stat, it can’t beat the buff Ascalon gives to the wielder’s overall stats.  
I still grabbed it from Mr. Rogers to shove in my inventory, and gave him a different blade from one of the armories in exchange.  
We ended up playing fetch with that sword for around an hour. It was actually pretty fun to throw an ancient sword while a ghost dog catches it and brings it back. Who knew?  
Something else I discovered while we were wandering around was that a major design flaw in the game isn’t here either. The large, very visible outdoor training area just doesn’t exist.   
Always wondered how that made it into the game. This place has been hidden for years! Except from anyone who walked by on the road and just happened to look up at the beautifully scenic mountain, but let’s not mention those people. There aren’t that many people who want to appreciate nature’s beauty anyways, so we don’t have to worry.  
I’m very glad our secret fortress is actually secret.  
Svar found a way to seal the entrance back up as well. There was a lever in a room above the entrance, so we reset the traps and sealed the place back up everytime we left and came back. Serana also puts a simple illusion over the entrance whenever we’re all inside.   
The illusion is not perfect, Serana isn’t really an illusionist, her dad just used his mountains of gold to buy her a tutor and called it parenting, but it does the job for anyone not looking for a secret fortress.  
Speaking of Serana, we now have a mass of undead working to make Sky Haven livable again. She went back into the cave and raised the corpses of the Forsworn that the Thalmor killed. She then asked me for the Thalmor themselves, and raised them as well when I took them out of my inventory.  
The warriors and mages, both Thalmor and Forsworn, are set up to guard the area, while all the weaker bodies are being used for manual labor. Moving things around, making the place more defensible, that kind of thing.  
The only bodies Serana didn’t raise were the kids. Seems the vampiress has got some lines she isn’t comfortable crossing either.  
With a pretty damn large workforce, the main areas were cleaned up relatively quickly. Anything we could salvage was kept, while the rest was dismantled for parts, or just outright thrown away if it wasn’t useful. We were also able to take our undead horde and go through the Forsworn camp, grabbing everything that wasn’t nailed down. This did a good job of replacing everything we had to get rid of, as well as giving us enough supplies to last for months.   
While Svar and I weren’t exactly cool with what the Thalmor did to the Forsworn, we weren’t going to leave all their stuff to decay when we could use it. That would just be needlessly stupid.  
Speaking of Svar and I, I guess I have a girlfriend? I don’t really know what we are because we haven’t talked about it. Whatever this is though, it’s nice.  
I really didn’t expect this to happen, but I can’t say I’m complaining. Now that I’ve gotten my head out of my ass it was pretty damn obvious.  
I mean, I thought she was sleeping with me to conserve body heat. Truly, I am an unparalleled casanova.   
Anyway, Svar’s pretty great. The two of us have just kind of wandered around Sky Haven together in silence, just enjoying each other's company.   
It was nice.  
Now, just because we were exploring doesn’t mean we were slacking in our training. Serana would still spend a couple hours every morning giving us lessons and helping us refine our magic.  
I can now feel souls without even trying. That in combination with my Sixth Sense perk makes it really hard to get the drop on me. I was also able to figure out how to tweak my own soul a little bit. Apparently there’s a wide variety of uses for that, from enhancing yourself in combat, to increasing your lifespan. Serana warned me it is incredibly dangerous if I fuck up though, and given that I don’t have a Gamer’s Soul skill, I’ve decided to take it slow. I’d rather be alive and curious, then dismantle my soul in the process of learning something cool.  
In between everything else, I spent a little time cleaning up that mage’s area. I made a stationary greenhouse, so I can grow ingredients without suspicion from anyone who doesn’t know about my Inventory, and went over the enchanting equipment to make sure everything would still work.  
Overall, a pretty good use of time. I think it was a week, but it might have been a tad longer or shorter. It’s hard to keep track of time when you spend so long underground. Plus, it’s not like I have anything I urgently need to get done, so I’m not too concerned about losing time.  
Right now Svar, Serana, and I are sitting around a table in one of the planning rooms. Mr. Rogers is off with his sword somewhere.  
“This place would serve quite nicely as a headquarters if you intend to stay here.” Serana speaks up as she takes a sip from a tall, thin glass. Turns out that little blood in place of wine cliche has some basis in fact.  
“Ya.” I say. “I’m kind of surprised it’ll work as well as it will, but then again, I wasn’t expecting an undead workforce to help clean it up.”  
Serana tilts her glass towards me, before taking another sip.  
“I guess I’m just wondering what our next step is.” Svar speaks up. “We’ve got an underground stronghold that would be very hard to take now. Hell, if an entire army came at us the three of us could fend them off with just this place’s defences and the undead, not to mention our other powers.”  
Serana nods. “I will admit. This temple is very appealing to me for a variety of reasons. I would not be opposed to staying, if you would have me?”  
I chuckle. “You can stay as long as you want. We’d still be sweeping the foyer if you weren’t here, so I’d say you’ve earned your keep.”  
Svar nods in agreement. “So now that we have a home base, what do we do going forward?” She asks.  
I lean forward and rest my arms on the table to think. “I’m not sure. There are a couple of problems which will come up sometime soon that we’ll have to worry about, but for the time being we can just focus on preparing. I’m not in any rush to go anywhere, and since we have this place I’d like to use the time to get stronger. I’d prefer to not get caught flat footed by whatever happens to pop up next.”  
Serana hums. “In the interest of not being caught ‘flat footed’ as you say, would you care to share what these upcoming ‘problems’ would be. You have already mentioned my father will be an issue, but I would like to have more specific information, as well as learn of anything else I should be concerned about.”  
Svar scrunches her eyebrows in confusion, and turns to face me. “What about her father, and why didn’t I hear about this?”  
I look back at her to respond. “In order, her father is going to try to kill the sun, which is actually something that can be done by the way, and you didn’t hear about it because we had the conversation while you were asleep, so Serana could threaten to kill me without you there to back me up.”  
“WHAT?!?!?!” Svar yells as she stands to glare towards Serana. Smoke begins to rise from her shoulders as she seethes.  
Serana calmly takes another sip from her glass and looks up at the standing Svar. “Oh come now Svarline, you didn’t expect me to blindly trust two people I had known for all of a week did you? There is a reason I kept my distance from you while we were staying in that accursed tomb. I was fairly certain you didn’t intend anything nefarious towards me, scheming obviously isn’t your style sweetheart, but I did not know whether or not Dusk had any plans for me. Therefore, I waited until you were out of the picture, and politely told him I would be most put out if he attempted to harm me or mine in any way.” Serana smiles up at Svar, showing off her fangs.  
Svar growls back at the vampiress but I stand and put a hand on her shoulder to calm her. “Honestly I’m surprised it took her that long.” I say. “It was a perfectly valid concern, and besides, it’s sorted out now. If she decides to eat me, it’ll be because of something else.”  
Svar looks at me and relaxes. Her features harden and she turns back to Serana. “Threaten him again and I’ll burn you Serana.” Svar says coldly.  
Serana tilts her head. “First I was to not be too friendly under threat of having my teeth pulled, and now I am to be friendly under threat of burning if I am not?” The vampiress smiles. “You must make up your mind girl. Do you want me to take your mate or not?”  
Svar growls and moves to step forward, but I stop her.  
I turn to Serana. “I would thank you not to play games with her.”   
Serana innocently sips at her wine glass.   
I turn to Svar and force her to look me in the eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, you understand? You’re stuck with me.”  
The literal smoke clears and Svar smiles at me. She leans into me and pulls me into a kiss.  
She opens her mouth and our tongues meet for a time before she pulls away.  
Svar looks from me to Serana with a predatory grin, but Serana simply continues to sip her drink.  
“You’re letting the dragon get the better of you girl.” Serana chides, placing her glass on the table. “A very simple jest caused you to become predatory. You moved to show he was yours, and not mine the moment I spoke. Be more aware.”  
Svar glares for a moment longer, but eventually sighs and hangs her head. “I’ll work on it.”  
Serana nods and turns back to face me. “Good. Now, back to the topic of these ‘problems’. I would appreciate a rundown of the more important threats. I would assume the dragons are one of them?”  
I nod and sit back down. “The dragons are likely the more pressing concern at the moment, especially given the fact that your father’s plan won’t work without several key pieces he doesn’t possess.”   
Serana hums. “And those pieces would be….?”  
I meet her eyes for a moment, then sigh. “How much do you want to know?”  
Serana smiles politely. “As much as you are able to tell me of course.”  
I take a deep breath as I begin. “Well, you already know he wants to bring about the tyranny of the sun.” The vampiress nods. “What I don’t think you know is the how. Honestly, I’m not sure he knows the how, and I’m hesitant to tell you everything because then all he has to do is grab you and the job is essentially done.”  
Serana frowns and her eyes narrow. “Are you implying that I would willingly be a part of his madness?” She says very carefully.  
I shake my head. “No. It’s just that it’s much easier to darken the sun than one would think, and with you he would have most of the pieces he needs to get it done. After that, he’d just need to send someone to retrieve something for him and, all of a sudden, the plants stop growing.”  
Serana relaxes and tilts her head at me. “Do you believe me to be unable to evade my father? What is to stop him from capturing you, and taking this information from yourself?” She asks curiously.  
Well, Gamer’s Mind and Body make it a little hard to torture me, and he wouldn’t be able to use any mind magic for the same reason, so I’m fairly safe in that regard.  
“It’s really hard to get information out of me.” I say in response.  
Serana hums, but doesn’t question me. “Very well, but I ask you again. Do you believe me incapable of evading my father? Especially given that he does not know that I am awake?”  
Huh. Honestly, with the head start she has, she could be just about anywhere in Tamriel by the time Harkon gets wise. So why don’t I want to tell her this?  
I don’t want her to know about the Gamer, but she doesn’t seem like she’ll press me for information on that. I guess I just remember her going back to Harkon in the game, and am afraid of the same thing happening here.  
I look up to meet her crimson eyes. “You said there’s no love lost between you and your father, but if I tell you this, and you ever change your mind on that fact, the world ends. You’re immortal, so you’ve got plenty of time to decide he’s right, or that you miss him, or whatever other reason you come up with to justify siding with him. I guess I just don’t trust that you’ll never want to see your dad again.”  
Serana hums and holds my gaze. “An intelligent position I suppose, but I can assure you, that I will never return to my father.”  
“How can we be sure?” Svar speaks up, now sitting back down at my side. “Like he said, you’re immortal. Eternity is a long time to hold a grudge, especially where family is concerned.”  
Serana regards Svar for a moment and smiles. “Do you know what a Daughter of Coldharbour is, Svarline?” She asks sweetly.  
Svar scrunches her eyebrows and throws a quick glance at me before responding. “I’m guessing it’s a title for very powerful female vampires.”  
Serana’s smile widens. “While that is most assuredly true, it is not the full truth. How about you Dusk?” She says turning to look me in the eyes. “With all of your knowledge, you surely know how I came to be yes?”   
I swallow a lump in my throat. I really did not expect this conversation to go here.  
“Yes.” I respond.  
Serana nods her head. “Would you be so kind as to inform the dragonborn? She is missing context that you and I possess, and without that context, she will not understand what I mean to say.”  
“Daughters of Coldharbour,” I begin. Speaking to Svar, but still holding Serana’s gaze. “are the purest vampires in the world. That’s why they are also among the most powerful. They are pure blooded vampires.”  
Svar raises an eyebrow at Serana. “Ok, so what? Her mom and dad were both vampires? That doesn’t seem all that special. What does this have to do with us trusting her?”  
Serana tuts as if addressing a child. Her eyes never stray from my own. “He hasn’t finished explaining yet my dear. Do wait until you know the full story before drawing any conclusions please.”  
Svar looks back at me expectantly.  
I take a deep breath and continue. “Vampirism, like most supernatural things, comes from a daedric prince. Where Hircine is the father of werewolves, Molag Bal is the father of vampires.”  
Svar’s eyes widen. “Her father is fucking Molag Bal?!?!?”  
Serana breaks eye contact with me as she laughs out loud. “Svarline, that was the most amusing thing to happen to me this century! Granted, I was in a stone box for 99 of those years, but it was still quite good. No girl, I am not that shit’s daughter. Did you forget us talking about how my vampiric father wanted to kill the sun? While I’m sure Molag Bal would do that, out of boredom if nothing else, he is not my father. Now Svarline, please make no more interruptions. Dusk, please continue.” She says with a smile as she wipes a tear out of her eye.  
Vampires have functioning tear ducts. Aren’t they undead? Figure it out later.  
I start again. “Molag Bal is the father of vampires. He has a claim on their souls when they finally do die, and is the only one who can create pure blooded vampires.” Serana’s eyes find mine once more. “Being the daedric prince of domination, he’s a fucked up dude. A tradition started a long long time ago, and has likely lasted all the way through to today. He would have his followers offer up women for him to bed.”  
Serana’s cold voice cuts me off. “Rape.” She says with her eyes still fixed on mine. “The word you are looking for, is rape.”  
I hold her gaze. “Women for him to rape. Almost every single woman who is offered to him dies. Mortals were not meant to be raped by a god, he is just far too powerful for people to survive. Of the hundreds of thousands who have been offered to him, I know of only three who survived. Each one of them emerged a pure blooded vampire. A Daughter of Coldharbour.” I finished speaking.  
Svar has gone pale as she looks towards Serana. Her mouth opens and closes as she tries to find something to say, but no words come out.  
“I don’t know how long we were there.” Serana begins, still looking me in the eye. “My mother and I endured for what could have been weeks. It’s impossible to tell time in a plane whose sky's alight with azure flames. I don’t know how long we were there, but I do know that we survived together. Just the two of us, out of a group of hundreds. Only my mother and I were able to survive.” She breaks eye contact and stands from her chair, turning to face the wall.   
“Do you want to know the first thing my father did upon our return?” She asks over her shoulder. “Do you think he embraced us? That he wept for our pain? That he swore we would never suffer again? No. He forced my mother to turn him. Neither of us could stand, we could barely move at all, and all he saw when he looked upon us was a path to more accursed power. We weren’t his wife and daughter, we weren’t his family.” She shoots a glare at Svar as she spits the word. “We were his tools. We’ve always been his tools.”  
She turns back around to face us. “My father, the man who helped bring me into this world, gave myself and my mother away to a god, in the hopes that we would make him powerful. He gave me away, to be raped, for the slightest chance it would grant him power. And when my mother and I emerged still alive, the first time in history two women survived the process together, and both were members of his family, what did he do? Did he help us home? Did he do anything for us? No. He left us there so he could bask in his newfound abilities. He forgot we even existed until we were able to drag ourselves back home.”  
Serana leans against the table and stares into my eyes. “That man, that thing? That is not my father. So when I tell you that I will never return to him, you had best believe me.” She growls.  
No one moves. Svar’s mouth continues to hang open, and Serana and I hold each other's gaze without flinching.  
I break the silence. “Auriel’s bow. If you taint Auriel’s Bow with arrows treated with the blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour, you can defeat the sun. You need three Elder Scrolls to learn the location of the bow. The one you have, the one I have, and one in your mother’s possession, but it doesn’t matter because I already know where the bow is, and what we would face retrieving it. I also know where your mother is.”  
Serana’s eyes widen, before quickly narrowing. “Where?” She asks evenly.  
“In the Soul Cairn.” I say in the same tone she used. “The portal she took to get there is in your father’s castle, it would be suicide to go before you’re ready.”  
Serana speaks calmly. “Why did you wait until now to tell me this? Why not inform me soon after you woke me?”  
I let out a small breath. “Because I didn’t trust you. I still don’t completely trust you, but now, I at least trust you not to stab me in the back for no reason.”  
Serana looks down at me and thinks for a moment. In the end, she retakes her seat and takes a sip out of her wine glass. “If I were to attempt to free her,” She begins, swirling the liquid of her glass. “Would you help me?”  
“Yes.” Svar speaks up as soon as the words leave Serana’s mouth. “You’ve helped us, I’d be more than willing to help you get your mother back.”  
Serana nods to her in thanks, before turning questioningly to me.  
I nod. “Yes I would, but as I said, it would be suicide to attempt a rescue without proper preparation. I’m willing to bet your father probably controls the portal by now.”  
I won’t make the same mistake here I’ve made everywhere else. Harkon is a living, thinking being, not a computer program designed to do things in a predetermined way. He will have checked the castle despite his arrogance. He might not have found Valerica’s portal, but it’s best to proceed thinking he has.  
Serana hums. “Then we make another one.” She motions around us. “We have the perfect facility with which to begin our work, and two Elder Scrolls to help us. It should be possible to recreate her work.”  
I grip my chin with my hand. “I don’t know. You’re an amazing mage, so with your help we might be able to pull it off, but the point might be mute. From what I’ve seen of the Soul Cairn, it’s near infinite. The Ideal Masters control who appears where and for how long. It’s a safe assumption to make that even if we manage to make a portal here, while it would take us to the Soul Cairn, it might not place us anywhere near your mother. I know the Ideal Masters have her trapped, unable to leave. They could do the same to us.”  
Serana hums. “I am willing to take that risk. My mother is the only one I have ever truly cared for, there is not much I wouldn’t give up to have her back.”  
I take a deep breath and think.  
I remember in the game not only was Valerica’s castle sealed, but the Soul Cairn’s entire map was surrounded by a wall of purple energy. In the game, that was just to keep the player inbounds. Here? It could be the Ideal Masters have lots of little pockets with various ‘projects’ stashed in each. There’s no way to know if we’ll be able to make it to Valerica’s pocket by making a portal here. There’s also no telling how long making a portal would take. There’s also no telling what’s actually in the Soul Cairn. What was there in the game might’ve been the lowest of the low as far as their fighters go. There’s also no telling how Valerica will react even if we do manage to free her. She would’ve probably attacked you in the game if Serana and the barrier weren’t there. Who’s to say she’ll leave us alive after we let her out?  
I let out a long sigh and look over at Serana.  
“If we make the portal here, and we go with you to free her, what kind of guarantee do I have that she won’t kill Svar and I the second she sees us? I want to help, but I also want to live.”  
Serana scoffs. “My mother is rational, she will not harm you if you do not present a threat to her. She would be suspicious of you no doubt, but with me at your side you would be perfectly safe.”  
I let out another sigh. I really hope I’m not getting played here.  
“Alright.” I say. “But I’m still not sold on the portal idea. It likely took your mother centuries to create hers, and she’s a master necromancer. How long do you think it will take for us to construct a portal here? What kinds of materials do we need? I don’t want to embark on something that will take centuries to come to fruition, mainly because Svar and I will be long dead by then.”  
Serana hums and scrunches her eyebrows. “I am not sure how long it will take, but I do know we will need several different alchemical ingredients, although with your extra-dimensional space that should be a non-issue. I will use a few tricks my mother taught me to try and track her, and use that to connect the portal to where it needs to go. Finding her will be the most taxing part of the process, creating the portal itself will not be too difficult once we know where we need to connect it too. We will also need several living people to sacrifice.”  
Svar frowns. “What do you mean?” She asks.  
Serana raises an eyebrow at her. “If we are to buy passage into the realm of the Ideal Masters, we will need payment. The only payment they will accept is the souls of mortals, so we need mortals to sacrifice.”  
Svar scrunches her eyebrows. “Is who it is important? Or will anyone do?”  
Serana impatiently waves her hand. “So long as they are mortal and have a soul they will be sufficient. It matters not if they are braggards or kings, so feel free to obtain them however possible.”  
I ask my first question again. “How long will it take?”  
Serana frowns and leans back in her chair. “I do not know. With the both of you helping me we should be able to create a portal fairly simply. As I said, the true difficulty is connecting it to the Soul Cairn. It will take time for me to attune the portal to the correct plane, and from there we will need even more time to ensure we do not arrive too far from my mother. Luckily, time we have in abundance within these walls. There is very little that could track us here.”  
“Alright.” I say as I begin to rise. “We’ll get to work on it in the morning. For now, I’m ready to go to sleep.”  
“Not yet.” Serana says before I can fully leave my chair. “The third threat you mentioned. This conversation has gone long already, but I would prefer to hear about this now.”  
“Heh, forgot we still hadn’t gone over that one.” I say, settling back into my chair. “Have either of you heard of Miraak?”  
Svar responded negatively, while Serana responded with a positive.  
I turn to face Svar. “Miraak was the first dragonborn. Well, is the first dragonborn. He’s currently trapped in a shitty deal with a knowledge loving daedric prince, but is making serious headway into freeing himself. We should have a while yet before he manages to break free, but when he does, he’s going to try to take over the world. Because everyone wants to take over the world. No one ever just wants to build a cabin in the woods. That wouldn’t be exciting enough apparently.”  
Serana chuckles at my joke, but Svar has a frown on her face.  
“I thought I was dragonborn?” She asks.  
Serana raises an eyebrow at her. “You are, but you are not the only one.”  
Svar turns to me. “How many have there been?”  
I cringe slightly. “That depends on a lot of factors. Are you talking about just the ones blessed by Akatosh? Or are their children counted as well? Personally? I’d say around five including you. The rest weren’t really that impressive.”  
“How can there be more than one of me? Is this Miraak like my brother?” Svar asks, confused.  
That’s right. I’m the only one who’s ever talked to her about any of this dragonborn stuff. Great.  
“There can be more than one dragonborn because being dragonborn means you were ‘chosen’ by Akatosh. Akatosh can choose more than one champion, and no. You are not Miraak’s sister. The guy is a power hungry nutcase who enslaves people. You are not related to him.”  
Svar thinks for a moment. “How strong is he compared to me?”  
“He’s been trapped in a realm that contains almost all the knowledge on Nirn, and has been alive since the Merethic Era. Add on to that the fact that he’s dragonborn, and has absorbed quite a few more dragons than you, and we figure he’s pretty damn strong. Serana would get probably her ass kicked by him.” I say.  
Serana hums, but doesn’t argue.  
“So what do we do?” Svar asks. “If he’s really that strong, how do we beat him?”  
I give a dark chuckle. “I don’t have a damn clue. I have a to do list, not a plan. I’m figuring it out as I go really.”  
“Well.” Serana speaks up. “I do believe we have spoken enough tonight.” She stands and drinks the last of her glass. “I will begin experimenting with the creation of the portal. It will take time, but I will inform you of any progress I manage to make.” She walks to the door, but I stop her before she can leave.  
“Wait.” I say.  
Serana turns back around to face me. “Yes?”  
“Are you sure we’ll be able to make a portal? I’m still not entirely sure it’s even possible, let alone whether or not we’ll be able to get it done this century.”  
Serana lets out a sigh. “Then what do you propose hmm? We have no way of knowing for sure until we try, and I will not leave my mother in that place on her own.”  
I go to respond, but stop myself as I go over what she just said.  
I do have a way to know for sure don’t I? This is a good question to ask, and since we’ll be here awhile I’ll be able to ask another one soon.  
Serana more closely studies me when I don’t respond. “Unless you do have a way to determine whether or not such an undertaking is possible?”  
Svar looks between us. “What?” She asks.  
I look up at both of them. “I have a way to figure it out, but I can only use it once per month, and phrasing is important.”  
I don’t actually know if phrasing is important, but given that this ability was copy pasted from the fucking Deck of Many Things, I’m not willing to take any chances.  
Svar snorts when I say ‘phrasing’, and Serana’s eyes widen slightly.  
“What are the limits of this ability?” Serana asks excitedly as she moves back to her chair, but doesn’t sit.  
I shrug. “It’s pretty open-ended. The only limitation is the one question per month deal. It gives me a true answer to any question I ask, as well as the wisdom needed to apply that knowledge.”  
Serana looks intrigued. “So you actually are a seer of sorts. I must say you grow more interesting with every passing day.” She grabs her chin as she thinks. “That ability could completely remove our need to research and experiment with the portal. All that would be left would be its final construction, which I’m sure wouldn’t take very long at all if we have an accurate guide of how to proceed. Now, how should we phrase the question?”  
“Does it have to be a yes or no question?” Svar asks.  
I look over the perk. “No.” I say after a moment. “It just has to be a question that can be answered truthfully, so pretty much anything.”  
Svar looks at me. “Then why don’t we just ask how to make a portal to Serana’s mother?”  
Serana shakes her head. “That is not specific enough. The portal could only last a moment, it could be the size of a coin, or it could open inside her and tear her apart. We need to be careful with our wording.”  
Svar snorts again, but stops herself when she goes to speak. She looks back over towards Serana and shrinks in on herself slightly.  
“It would be safer to ask how to create a stable portal to where she resides within the Soul Cairn.” Serana continues, either oblivious to Svar’s actions, or choosing to ignore them. “We would have the ability to move at our own pace, and be able to return if things go wrong. We would also be able to control it from our end. Being able to close and reopen a portal to the Soul Cairn would be a major boon even once my mother is freed.”  
“So, something along the lines of, ‘How can we create a stable portal, which can be used to travel to and from the Soul Cairn, that we have complete control over?’ would be what we’re thinking?” I say.  
Serana hums. “Close, but we need to ensure it takes us relatively close to my mother. Otherwise we could spend longer searching for her, than we spent creating the portal.”  
Svar speaks up. “So something more like, ‘How can we make a stable portal that will take us close to where Serana’s mother resides in the Soul Cairn, and is under our complete control?’”  
Serana shakes her head. “I would state passage to the Soul Cairn as the primary goal. Something more closely resembling, ‘How can the three of us create a stable portal to the Soul Cairn that will both take us close to Valerica, and be under our complete control?’ would be preferable in my mind.”  
I run it through my head a few times. “I don’t see any glaring problems with it. Svar?”  
She shakes her head. “Seems good to me.”  
I take a deep breath. “Ok, unless anyone objects, I’m going to ask the question.”  
Svar and Serana look at me expectantly.  
I activate Vizier and ask, ‘How can the three of us create a stable portal to the Soul Cairn that will both take us close to Valerica, and be under our complete control?’  
I’m not sure why I was expecting a disembodied voice to give me the answer, D&D experience most likely, but instead I get a Matrix style brain download. A comprehensive step-by-step process for how to create a portal to the Soul Cairn that feels like it’s straight out of an Ikea assembly manual.  
“Got it.” I say as I try to process everything.  
“And?” Serana asks excitedly.  
“We’ve got most of what we’ll need already. There’s a lot of required alchemy ingredients, dragon bone is needed for some reason, and you were right about the whole ‘sacrificing mortal souls’ bit. The only things we’re missing are some powerful soul gems, some parts from a dead wispmother, and various organs from slain daedra. The portal itself is actually really easy to make, it’s powering the damn thing up that’s so freaking difficult, but it shouldn’t take more than four months to get it operational if we all work nonstop. Closer to five if we keep up our training and actually remember to sleep.”   
Svar frowns. “So five months? That could be a lot worse I guess.”  
I shrug. “If we focus on this and nothing else? Five months will do it, but if we make any major expeditions out of Sky Haven for whatever reason, our timeframe will be more around seven months.”  
Serana, meanwhile, can’t contain her grin. “Seven months is no time at all to an immortal. When you have a moment Dusk, I would like a written version of the guide you have in your head, but for now, we have talked enough, and I’m sure the both of you would like to rest. We will begin our work in the morning.” She walks to the door’s threshold, where she turns around to face us. “Thank you. Both of you.” She leaves.  
The two of us sit there for a moment, looking at the door through which Serana left.  
“Sleep?” Svar asks as she turns to look at me.  
I shrug. “Sounds good to me.”  
She smiles at me, and the two of us head back towards the room we claimed. It probably belonged to a high ranking officer because of its size. All of the amenities have rotted and decayed away, but Svar made a new bed with her magic. She used things we salvaged from the forsworn camp to make a new bed that was both comfortable, and large enough for the two of us.  
We lay down and wrap our arms around one another.  
“I’m tired.” she says sleepily.  
I shouldn’t….  
I smile. “Hi tired, I’m Dusk.”  
Svar acts confused. “No it’s not. We’ve got a solid nine hours until Dusk. Oh! It just dawned on me! You mean your name is Dusk. My mistake.” She grins up at me.  
Svar cuddles up closer to me. “It’s not Dusk yet.” She says. “That means you’re mine for now.”  
I chuckle and close my eyes to go to sleep.  
“Dusk?” Svar speaks up timidly.  
I open my eyes back up and look at her. “What’s up?”  
“Serana’s been through a lot hasn’t she?” She asks seriously.  
I nod. “Ya, she has.”  
“I never knew my father, and I’ve always wondered what he was like.” She chuckles darkly. “I thought I had one of the worst parents someone could have, but all he did was walk out on us. Serana’s…. how can someone be that fucked up?”  
“I don’t know.” I answer.  
Svar shuffles so she can look up at me. “What are your parents like?”  
I tense up.   
I can’t remember their names. I can see their faces, see the faces of my siblings, but I can’t remember any of their names. I remember what they were like though. My dad was witty, but could be surprisingly serious. My mom screwed with me constantly, but she was one of the nicest people I know.  
I smile sadly. “They were great.” I say fondly.  
Svar’s breath catches. “I’m sorry.”  
I kiss her forehead gently. “Don’t be, it’s not your fault.”  
Svar takes a deep breath. “Guess all three of us have issues huh?”  
I chuckle. “Yep. Three damaged idiots with an underground fortress, and an undead horde. The world is doomed.”  
Svar smiles and cuddles back up against me. “Goodnight Dusk.”  
“Goodnight.”

(Interlude: Sybille Stentor)

I stand at Elisif’s side as we wait at the open gates of Solitude.  
The young woman has really surprised me the last few weeks. Not only has she grown a backbone, but she’s handled the dragon threat marvellously. While there is definitely room for improvement, she has grown much from the broken shell that mourned her husband.  
My enhanced eyes catch the first glimpse of the troops our scouts reported were advancing.  
“They are almost here my lady.” I say to the young woman.  
“Thank you Sybille.” The Jarl tries to say with dignity, but I catch the slight tremor in her voice.  
I look over to her. “What’s wrong my lady?”   
She lets out a sigh and turns to me. “Am I doing the right thing Sybille? I’m placing my people in far greater danger than I would like, and I’m trusting a traitor to keep his word. Is this truly the best course of action?”  
I chuckle wryly, causing the Jarl to glare slightly. “You’ve done splendidly.” I say. “You were placed in a situation where the only options were to die, or to beg, and you created a third option. Nothing you do will be perfect, but as of yet, you haven’t faltered. So hold your chin high, and even if you are unsure of yourself, project unfailing confidence.”  
The young girl I all but raised alongside her husband nods and lifts her chin. “Thank you Court Wizard. Please remain at my side while I address our guests.”  
I smile and nod. She’s all grown up.  
The heavily armoured entourage is within a hundred feet now. A tall bear of a man with dirty blonde hair in the lead. He raises his arm and the company halts while he continues forward to meet us.  
“Elisif.” Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak greets. “I must admit your message surprised me. If I wasn’t sure ambushes weren’t your style, I would not have come.”  
“Ulfric.” Elisif calmly responds. “Let me be very clear. I don’t like you. You killed my husband, and tore this province apart. With that said, however, I do respect your resolve, and your loyalty to your people. I would not have extended my invitation if I thought you to be treacherous, but do not attempt to use my hospitality against me. My aid comes with conditions.” She says coldly.  
I fight off a smile as a feeling of pride wells up in me.  
Ulfric brings his right fist to his chest and speaks loud enough for his own people to hear. “On my honour, I will not betray your people’s trust so long as my own people are treated fairly.”  
Elisif nods. “Good. Have your wounded and your children brought to The Temple of the Divines, we have already made preparations. Beds have been prepared for your warriors in Castle Dour as well. I would ask that you come with me. Due to your people’s state, you are understandably the last to arrive. All of the other Jarls who will work with us have already gathered in the Blue Palace’s war room.”  
Ulfric frowns. “‘The Jarls who will work with us’? Who would refuse a cause this dire?”  
The Stormcloaks ranks break as their wounded and children are brought in front of the heavily armed soldiers. Healers and other volunteers from Solitude come forth to aid their brethren.  
Elisif begins to lead myself, Ulfric, and Ulfric’s guard to a simple carriage which will carry us to the palace.  
“Siddgeir.” Elisif seethes the name. “He believes, and this is word for word, that ‘Windhelm was obviously poking the beasts with a stick. If they had left them be, there would not have been an issue.’ so his help is as unwanted as it is unoffered.”  
Ulfric’s guard growls. “How dare he! We were attacked without warning! We did nothing to…”  
“Galmar.” Ulfric cuts in. “Now is not the time old friend. If Elisif believed this to be our fault, we would not be standing here.”  
Elisif nods to Ulfric, before adopting a more somber expression. “Idgrod is the only other monarch who will be missing.”  
Ulfric becomes confused. “From the interactions I have had with the woman, she would have been the first to answer your call. What has changed?”  
“Morthal is lost.” I speak up, drawing our visitors attention. “Not to a dragon attack, but to an army of the undead. We are unsure if any in the city were able to make it out alive.”  
Our visitors descend into silence as they process this.  
We mount the carriage and it begins to move.  
Ulfric finally speaks up. “One major threat to our home wasn’t enough it seems. Do we know the number of undead? Their individual strength?”  
Elisif motions to me. “Sybille would know best. I sent her to investigate when our runner returned with the news. The other Jarls have already heard her report, so it is important you are filled in on the issue.”  
Ulfric and the now named Galmar turn to look at me.  
“I was able to teleport just outside the city and look over it’s walls from atop a nearby hill. There are a large number of weaker undead. Skeletons, weaker draugr and the like.” I begin. “Whoever is behind this attack must either be a powerful necromancer, or be the ally of one.”  
Galmar grunts. “I fail to see how a horde of skeletons could take a city as fortified as Morthal. Nords know well how to deal with the undead. There must be something else.”  
I nod. “There is. The reason I was not able to get a more perfect picture of the overall threat these undead pose, was due to several very powerful vampires noticing my presence and chasing me away. These were not the weak newly turned creatures that we typically deal with, but vampires who have been slowly growing in power for decades at least. I’m unsure as to why they have chosen to come out of hiding now, but whatever their reason, it spells ill for us.”  
While the few I faced were not as old as myself, they were no fledglings. Whoever sired them must be both old, and powerful. I fled because I did not have enough information. I am not sure if I could defeat the one who sired them, or the necromancer commanding the forces. It has been many long years since I have faced a challenge such as this, it is quite exciting.  
Ulfric sighs. “If they are truly as old as you say, we will need to take special preparations to combat them. Our traditional methods will simply not be enough, and this threat presents itself at the same time the dragons return. We can’t fight this battle on two fronts, Elisif. At this rate, we’ll be hard pressed to defend what cities remain standing.”  
Elisif nods. “I am aware of the severity of the situation we find ourselves in, that is why cooperation is of the utmost importance. We will be destroyed if we continue to fight amongst ourselves while the world burns around us.”  
Ulric grunts his agreement as the carriage comes to a stop in front of the Blue Palace.  
“After you.” Elisif motions Ulfric forward.  
We all exit the carriage and proceed inside, led by one of the serving girls.  
We are brought to the castle’s war room, where the Jarls of every hold who answered our call, as well as their stewards, are sitting around a large circular table. There are also a number of representatives from the College of Winterhold, and the Companions. The dragons affect them as well after all.   
Ah, they’re all arguing. This is why I worked so hard to entrench myself into politics, the bickering amuses me.  
It will be quite fun to watch Elisif tear them all apart. My influence no doubt.  
“Peace!” Elisif calls out to the room, causing the quarreling to cease. “We need to bring Jarl Ulfric up to speed, and from there we must decide our next course of action.”  
She and the Stormcloak take their seats and the posturing begins.   
I wonder if they’ll be able to get anything done today?

(Interlude: Sam Guevenne)

“And then!!!!! He jumped, but forgot to fly!!! And so he died!!!!!” My silver haired companion let’s another insanity ridden laugh loose as he completes his ‘story’,  
I take a quick swig from my bottle and throw an arm over his shoulder. “Sheo my friend, we really need to do this more often! Why, the last time we got together, you were someone else!”  
Sheo nods his head up and down. “Yep! But now I’m not! That me got stabbed! BY ME!!!!! So now I’m the me to be stabbed by me!!!!!”  
I nod my head in understanding. “Very true. Now, what was it that brought you here again? I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but meetings with old friends are always better with large amounts of booze.”  
Sheo waves off my apology. “It’s obekabie. I was lookin for the me who’s not me, but from the same place as me, who’s travelling with a later version of me from sooner than now.”  
I tilt my head. “I cannot say I’ve seen them, but I’ll keep an eye out.”  
Sheo grins from ear to ear. I do that sometimes too. It really freaks the mortals out. “Thanks Sammy boy!!!! It’s not too urgent though, so don’t go outta your way. I just wanna see someone else from ‘ol Terra. Then we can play DEATHMATCH together!!!!! I’ve been playing with bots for centuries, and it’s JUST. GOTTEN. SO. BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But, like I said, it’s not too pressing.”  
I smile. “Well if you’ve got the time anyways…. What do you say to a little game between us?”  
The mad man’s eyes light up. “I love games!!!!!!! What’re we playin’ for?”  
I scratch my chin while he straightens out his suit. “How about this,” I say. “if I win, I get to ride Indigo.”  
My friend strokes his beard thoughtfully. “Fine, but if I win, I get to shoot Old Yeller!!!!”   
Do I have anything called Old Yeller? Eh, if I don’t remember, it’s obviously not important.  
“You have a deal my friend!” I say and reach out to shake his hand. “So what are we playing?”  
“Why dance of the starlings of course!!!! Keep up!!!” He leaps from his stool and bolts from the bar with a hearty laugh.  
I slowly stand and look at the barmaid who had been serving us. She, along with the rest of the bar’s patrons, are staring at me with a mixture of awe and fear.  
Oh, if only I had time to stay and play….  
Alas, I can’t let Sheo beat me at whatever it is we’re doing. I’d never be able to live it down.  
“Thank you for the drinks madam.” I say with a bow as I drop a coin purse on the counter and turn to leave. “Treat yourself to something nice! Oh, and ditch that boyfriend of yours. He’s dreadfully vanilla.”  
I smile upon hearing the indignant squawk from behind me.  
I close the inn’s door and leisurely walk after my friend. It’s not too difficult to find him. Just follow the trail of rampant destruction and deranged screaming.  
I breathe deep of the night air and let loose my own mirth filled laugh. What fun this is turning out to be!


	12. 12

The next morning finds me sitting on the ground with my eyes closed.  
“Carefully.” Serana’s voice cautions from over my shoulder. “Do not rush this.”  
I take a deep breath and slow down a little.  
Where before I was pouring magic into my arm as if from a river, I have reduced it to be as if from a faucet.  
“Good.” Serana says. “Now pull.”  
I open my eyes and hold my right arm up. I see it coated in a pulsating violet energy.  
I allow myself a smile as I feel the energy hum.  
I extend my arm out in front of me, and form a fist. I channel the magic I had gathered through my arm, and force it out.  
The energy leaps from my fist and becomes a violet bolt of purple as it launches away from me. It travels the length of the training room before impacting the wall across from me, leaving a sizable hole in the old stone.  
Serana hums as I stand. “You are progressing much faster than I would have anticipated.” She states as she studies me. “It typically takes years to reach such proficiency. There is still more I am able to teach you, but any lessons I impart will be incomplete without a living soul for you to experiment with.”  
I raise an eyebrow. “By experiment you mean…?”  
Serana meets my gaze unflinching. “You wish to learn the art of manipulating, and controlling souls. One does not learn this art without trying, and failing, to manipulate living souls. It matters not who, or what, you practice with. It is possible to learn by using animals, but the process will be faster if you find people you are willing to destroy. For that is what you will do. Once you are adept with soul magic, it will be elegant, but until then you will tear asunder anything you touch. Make sure that anything you try to parse, is something that is unimportant.”  
I nod. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”  
Serana waves me off. “It is no trouble. You freed me, and have already granted your aid in freeing my mother. Instructing you is simply my way of balancing the scales. Now, I believe it is time we checked in on Svarline.”  
The two of us leave the training room and begin our trek up one of the several staircases within Sky Haven. We take the stairs to their highest point and proceed down the hall.  
Maneuvering through the various passageways, we come to an old escape route we discovered during our exploration. We open the door and walk out into the crisp morning air.  
The door exits high up the mountain. While not quite at its peak, I’d put us about three-fourths of the way up. We are still high enough for Svar’s needs.  
Svar stands at the edge of a sheer cliff, looking out over the landscape below. Something about her dragon nature makes her feel very comfortable in high places, so she has come up here to practice with her thu’um whenever she decides to skip soul magic lessons. Which, admittedly, she has been doing more and more frequently.   
She just doesn’t have the talent for soul magic. She is a very gifted alteration mage, but does not possess as much talent for any of the other schools. Even her restoration magic is only intermediate, and she’s been practicing that for her entire life.  
Svar doesn’t let it bother her though. Truthfully, neither would I in her position. The thu’um is much more versatile than the game would lead you to believe. So long as Svar knows the words, she can use them to bend reality. Essentially, anything she can say, she can do. The difficulty comes with learning the words.  
I had already transcribed every word from the dragon language that I remembered into a small book, and given it to her to study. She has been studying the book for the majority of the time we’ve been here, but she’s made less progress than I would have assumed.  
Since she has stopped coming to Serana’ soul magic lessons, Svar has been spending that time up here meditating on the words I showed her. She’s gotten a couple down, proving she is much faster than the Greybeards, but it’s still a time consuming process.   
“Koraav.” Svar says softly. The ground gently quakes at her pronunciation.  
She turns around to face us with a sly grin on her face. “Nice to see you.” She says and starts laughing.  
I raise an eyebrow at Serana, but she doesn’t pay me any mind.   
“You’ve been up here for two hours Svarline.” Serana says. “Come eat. After that, we will get to work preparing to construct our portal to the Soul Cairn.”  
Svar gets herself under control and the three of us descend the stairs and make our way to the mess hall we’ve been eating in.  
Mr. Rogers is already there waiting for us with a…. where the hell did he get a crossbow?   
The thing has been beat to shit. The string is disconnected and hanging on by literal threads, the wood is rotted, and there are chew marks all over it.  
Huh. Cool I guess.  
Everyone takes a seat and begins to eat. I pull another small book from my inventory and begin writing.  
“What are you doing?” Svar asks curiously between bites.  
“Making a hard copy of the portal design I have in my head.” I reply.  
Serana hums interestedly and moves to sit next to me. “Interesting.”  
“You said seven months right?” Svar asks.  
I pause my writing to make a so-so gesture. “Roughly. There’s a lot of factors that go into this, and it’s best to make sure we get it right. I’m not sure exactly how long it’ll take, but it’s in that neighborhood.”  
Serana leans over to better read what I have written. “If it takes a year to ensure the portal works correctly, then we will spend a year on its construction. This is not a process that should be rushed. My mother will still be there when we manage to complete our work.”  
I nod. “I’m thinking the same thing. We’ll do our best to finish quickly, but function is more important than expediency. Besides, the longer we work, the stronger we’ll be when we go in there. I’m not sure what will be waiting on the other side, so I’d rather be as prepared as possible.”  
Svar nods. “Makes sense.” She frowns slightly. “I just wish there was a way to learn the thu’um faster. I’ve been at it for awhile and haven’t made much progress.”  
I look at her. “Yes you have. I understand it’s not as much as you’d like, but most people would take years to get done what you can in a morning. Just keep at it. There’s not much we can do to speed the process along without having a teacher for you.”  
Svar tilts her head. “I thought the only ones who could teach me were the Greybeards, and really they sound useless. Who else is there?”  
I shrug. “Dragons.”  
Svar’s spoon pauses on its way to her mouth as she looks at me in disbelief.  
“He has a point Svarline.” Serana speaks up, still looking over the book. “You are a practitioner of the dragon’s magic. Does it not make sense that a dragon would be your best option as a teacher.”  
Svar looks at the ceiling as she considers this. “I guess. I just don’t know of any dragons who’d be willing to teach me.”  
Serana hums. “Ask Dusk. He knows of at least two who, if not willing to teach you, will at least be friendly.”  
Svar raises an eyebrow at me. “Dusk.”  
I shrug. “One is on top of the Throat of the World, and the other’s trapped in the Soul Cairn guarding Serana’s mother. Neither are really available at the moment.”  
Serana looks up at me. “There is a dragon guarding my mother?”  
Did I not mention that?  
I nod. “His name’s Durnehviir. He got screwed over by the Ideal Masters, and has to play jailor to an immortal as a result. He hates it, but is forced to do his job by the contract he agreed to. If we’re able to ‘kill’ him though, he should rematerialize a little while later and be willing to talk to us. He’s pretty chill when he’s not trying to bite your head off.”  
Serana and Svar just stare at me for a moment.  
Svar shakes her head to refocus. “What about the other one? We can see the Throat of the World from here, so can’t you just teleport us up there?”  
Huh, that’s not a bad idea actually.  
I shrug. “I guess I could, but I don’t want to drop in on him unannounced. Going around surprising dragons is not a good way to die of old age.”  
Serana looks back to the book. “It is an option we now possess, but I would caution you to think on it before doing anything rash.” Serana says to Svar. “You are already making progress, even if it is slow. Are this dragon’s teachings worth the attention they will come with? I would also ask you to notify me of what you decide, so I may plan accordingly.”  
Svar nods. “Don’t worry. We won’t go now, I’m still not sold on learning from a dragon after all. I’ll think it over and let you guys know.”  
The conversation tapers off there, and we all finish our meal. A few minutes after we’re done eating, I finish transcribing everything I learned from Vizier about the portal.   
I give Serana the hard copy, and she spends some time looking it over.  
“We’ll need quite a large open space for this. The only suitable location would be the foyer, but I do not want a portal to the Soul Cairn there for obvious reasons.”  
I nod. “Yep, that’s our biggest issue right now. There’s bound to be somewhere in this place that’ll work. It’s just a matter of finding it, and I’m still not sold on running through with Godspeed. That’s just asking to get your head cut off by any left over traps.”  
Svar scrunches her eyebrows. “I might be able to help with that actually.”  
Serana and I turn to look at her, and she meets our gaze.  
“The word I was working on today,” She begins. “is koraav. It roughly translates to see. I can probably look through the mountain for something that would work.”  
I grin. “That’ll work. While you’re looking, try to find a vault and a library. There’s bound to be at least one of each.”  
Svar nods and stands. “I’m still not great with this, so it’ll probably take a while. I’ll come get you when I find something.” She leaves. A quick tremor passes through the ground shortly after she has left the room.  
Serana stands next, book in hand. “I will get started on the items we need to enchant. Until later.” She leaves as well.  
I sigh as I lean back against my chair.  
I really need to take a break every now and then. I went straight from Helgen to Whiterun, then got chased out and woke up Serana. We went down to Blackreach, and now we control Sky Haven. When I should be able to take a nap, I’ve decided it’s a good idea to make a portal to the fucking Soul Cairn.  
I sigh and drag myself to my feet.  
I need something productive to do. Svar and Serana are being productive, so what can I do?  
I could jump into ID’s, but then I won’t be here if they need help.  
I get an idea, and walk to the bigger armory.  
I walk in and look around. I find what I’m looking for, and move to the forge. I gather up all of the armor and weapons and pile them up by the various workbenches. Using my lightning, I ignite the forge and super heat it.  
I spend the next few hours restoring all of the equipment in this armory with my blacksmithing class.   
I don’t know if we’ll ever need this stuff, but now we have it in case we do.  
I’m about to move on to the next armory when Svar pokes her head through the door.  
“Found everything.” She says.  
I raise an eyebrow. “Portal space, library, and vault?”  
She nods. “I focused on what I was looking for, and my magic practically led me to it. The thu’um is awesome.” She finishes with a smile.  
I chuckle and sheathe the sword I just finished. “I bet. Have you told Serana yet?”  
Svar shakes her head. “You were closer.”  
“Well let’s go get her and check everything out.” I say.  
We retrieve Serana and Svar leads us through the mountain until we come to a large set of double doors.  
Svar opens them and we walk inside.  
The room is filled with floor to ceiling bookshelves, all of which are full. The ceiling is about twice as high as I am tall, and wide enough for two elephants to stand next to one-another.  
Serana hums. “Did you preview any of these books?” She asks Svar.  
Svar nods to her. “They’re mostly journals and other records the Blades kept. I found a few on various fighting styles, but nothing too interesting.”  
My ears perk up at ‘fighting styles’. “Where were the fighting styles?” I ask.  
Svar motions further down and I head off to look while she and Serana wait at the entrance.  
I scan the shelves and find two books that make me smile.

Akaviri Sword Style  
Read this book to learn the sword style of the Ancient Akaviri  
Requires Monk/Paladin/Saber/Swordmage/Berserker class to use

Sword-Singing  
Read this book to learn the lost art of sword-singing  
Requires Swordmage class 

I reach out and instantly learn the Akaviri sword style. I get another Matrix download, and suddenly know sword-fu. I’m still no Vergil, but I am really looking forward to my next swordfight.  
I grab the sword-singing book and throw it in my inventory. While I don’t need it because of my ability to create lightning, and soon soul blades, sword-singing is one of The Elder Scrolls magics that is similar to the thu’um. If I remember correctly, you practically create a manifestation of pure will. Green Lantern much? Passing it up just because I have an alternative is stupid.  
Kind of regretting not choosing Swordmage as my second class now.   
Wait, would Broken Limiter let me learn that without the class? Why the hell haven’t I thought of this before? Need to look into that later.  
I walk back to the entrance to meet back up with Svar and Serana.  
“What’s with the grin?” Svar asks with a raised eyebrow.  
“I’m coming back here later.” I say in place of an answer.  
Svar just shrugs and begins to lead us on. Serana studies me for a brief moment longer, before she follows after Svar.  
We walk for another few minutes before coming to a large steel door.  
Svar grins at Serana and I. “See you on the inside. FEIM!!!” She says and walks through the door.  
Serana and I look around, but we find no gap to move through.  
I sigh. “I got this.” I say to Serana.  
I put my pinky up against the door, and channel my lightning into the door with the radius of a pin tip. A very small hole burns it’s way through the whole of the door, and I use lightning form to force myself through it. Serana follows as mist.  
When we get inside, Svar is laying down with her legs crossed on top of a large pile of gold and gems. I look around for enchanted artifacts, but find nothing. I guess Dragonbane was the only thing they stored here.  
“Isn’t this great?” Svar with a contented smile asks from her gold pile. “I get at least half of this as a finder’s fee. You two can split the rest.”  
I feel a sharp twinge of jealousy, but I force it down hard. Greed is trying to make me grab everything in here, but I don’t need it. I’m fine with letting Svar have the gold. Baby steps. You’ll overcome this flaw yet.  
I forcefully shrug. “I don’t need it. I’ve got my own funds.” I haven’t even dented the Flor de la Mar’s funds yet, so I don’t need this. I really don’t. There’s no reason to take any of this treasure, so I’m not going to. Nope.  
Serana turns back to walk towards the door. “Currency is only useful when it can be used to purchase things. As I currently have everything I need, I don’t care for it. Keep your gold Svarline, but do lead us to this area you found. I am anxious to get to work.”  
Svar’s smile turns predatory as she takes one last look over the pile. “Follow me.” She says as she phases back through the door.  
We wander a little more in what seems to be no direction at all and come to an archway leading to a decayed mess hall.  
“All we need to do is get rid of the tables and benches and this will work great don’t you think?” Svar asks.  
Serana smiles. “Yes, this will work quite well.”  
Undead file into the room, and begin to remove the furniture. Since when were they following us? Eh, I don’t care.  
“If that’s all,” I begin. “I’m going to head to the second armory. You never know when more equipment will…..”

Quest added  
[A Long Overdue Meeting!]  
You may have ignored the main quest, but the main quest didn’t ignore you! Head outside to meet your visitor!  
Objective- Meet with the visitor.  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Rewards- ?  
Bonus Rewards- ?  
Failure- Your guest will become irritated

“.....fuck.”  
Serana’s head snaps to look at me. “What happened?” She asks seriously.  
Svar looks at me with confusion. “Dusk? What’s up?”  
“Something’s here.” I say back.  
Serana begins looking around us, but I quickly shake my head at her.  
“No, here as in Sky Haven. Something found us.” I say.  
The undead stop moving tables and begin running out of the mess hall. They then dart down various corridors.  
“Do you know who or what it is?” Serana asks.  
I shake my head. “No, just that someone’s waiting outside for us. Svar? Can you use your thu’um to see who it is?”  
Svar nods. “Koraav.” She looks around for a moment, and her gaze comes to rest looking up through a wall. “Dragon.” She says terse. “There’s a dragon sitting in the old Forsworn camp.”  
Well shit.  
“Serana,” I say as I turn to face her. “Can you teleport us to the entrance?”  
She nods and holds out her hand. A violet portal opens in front of her and she leads us through.   
We emerge just in front of the spinning pillars where we killed the Thalmor’s mages.  
I pull Yamato from my inventory, and enter my lightning form. My electrical wings sprout from my back.  
Svar becomes metallic and her cloak splits apart to form her own wings.  
Serana stays as she is, but leads the two of us forward towards the cave’s exit.  
“Can you still see it?” I ask Svar.  
She nods. “It’s head is tracking us. He knows where we are, but he’s just sitting there. Waiting.”  
Oh Shit.  
“What does he look like? Scale color? Horns?” It would be my luck that Alduin decides to show up and wreck shit.  
“He has grey scales, and horns going down his back like the other dragons we’ve fought.” Svar answers.  
Grey scales?  
Paarthurnax?  
“Don’t attack right away.” I say carefully. “Let’s see what he wants first.”  
Serana looks over her shoulder at me. “You know this dragon?”  
“Maybe.” I say. “I’m not sure, so keep your guard up.”  
She nods, and leads us outside of the cave.  
Down below us, sitting atop a large boulder is the dragon Svar saw from the cave. He has greyish gold scales, and is staring directly at us.

PAARTHURNAX  
Ambition. Overlord. Cruelty.  
Level- ???  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thought about you- ???

I let out the breath I was holding even as I read his name’s translation. I guess it makes sense from the first dragon war, but it still just doesn’t mesh with the dragon himself in my opinion.  
“Can we help you?” I call out conversationally.   
“Hmmm. Geh. I seek the Dovahkiin, I possess words she must hear. I would ask for tinvaak. For us to speak.” The grandfatherly voice greets us.  
Svar lets out a soft growl. “How did you find us?” She demands.  
Paarthurnax’s head shifts to look at her. “I have my ways Dovahkiin.”  
What is it with immortal assholes and being cryptic as all hell?  
“What do you want?” Svar continues, still tense.  
Paarthurnax hums. “To guide you Dovahkiin. You have strayed from the path fate has set you on. While that is your right, I feel I must do all I am able to set you back on course.”  
Svar glares at him. “I don’t really give a shit what fate has planned for me, so thanks for stopping by, but get lost.”  
Paarthurnax brings his head closer to get a better look at her. “Intriguing. You are not what I expected Dovahkiin. I apologize if I have offended, but I will not leave until I have passed on my knowledge.”  
Svar goes to step forward, but I grab her arm.   
“You haven’t introduced yourself.” I say up to the dragon while Svar glares at me.  
“Apologies young one, it was not my intent to be rude. I am Paarthurnax. I greet you.” The dragon looks up to the sky. “YOL TOOR SHUL!!!!” A long column of golden fire blasts forth from the dragon’s maw.  
Woah, that is different from the game.  
Svar and Serana tense but I hold up a hand to stop them. The heat is immense even from here, but if he had meant to hit us he would have.  
“Now Dovahkiin,” The dragon looks back down to Svar. “a gift.” Wisps of golden energy seep out through the dragon’s scales and flow towards Svar.   
Svar’s eyes widen as she recognizes the event. She lets the energy wrap itself around her, and she breathes deeply as it empowers her.  
“Now greet me, if you are truly dragonborn.” Paarthurnax says when the lights fade.  
Svar looks up with a challenging grin and bellows, “YOL TOOR SHUL!!!!” A wave of fire careens out from her and smothers the dragon.  
A deep rhythmic bellowing echoes out from the smoke left by Svar’s shout. More dragon chuckling.  
“Well done.” The dragon sits straighter and seems to smile down at Svar. “You are stronger than I anticipated Dovahkiin, that is good. You will need as much strength as possible to defeat my sister.”  
Huh?  
Svar’s eyebrows scrunch. “Who’s your sister?”  
Paarthurnax hums. “Alduin, the World Eater. It is her destiny to bring about the destruction of this world, only you are able to defeat her.”  
…  
…  
…  
Dusk.exe has stopped working.  
Why is Alduin genderbent?  
What the hell does this mean?  
God damnit, is Ancano Archmage? Did the Dark Brotherhood never lose Dawnstar?  
Great, now I’m overthinking everything. Fucking fantastic.  
Aaaaand they’re still talking.  
“..... be me?” Svar finishes.  
“Only the Dovahkiin can defeat my sister.” Paarthurnax patiently answers.  
“You said an Elder Scroll was used to defeat her before.” Serana speaks up. “Could we use the same method a second time?”  
Paarthurnax turns to her. “I would object to such a method. Even if my sister has not devised a strategy to avoid such a defeat, which I am sure she has after her prior humiliation, all you would accomplish is sending her even further into the future. She will resurface again, but there will not be a Dovahkiin to combat her then.”  
Serana hums and grasps her chin, but she doesn’t respond.  
Paarthurnax turns to look at Svar. “It is my belief that the best path to my sister’s defeat would be for the Dovahkiin to learn the shout of those who defeated her previously. Their thu’um was able to viik, defeat, my sister, and it is not something she will be able to counter as she could the Elder Scroll. A dovah’s hahdrim simply cannot comprehend the concepts within the thu’um used by the ancient warriors. It is our best chance.”  
“Page 24, line 32.” I say inserting myself into the conversation. Perfect memory for the win.  
Serana and Paarthurnax turn to face me confused, but Svar’s eyes widen.  
She pulls her backpack off and begins to rummage around in it. She finds what she’s looking for, and pulls out the book I gave her to study with.  
Serana’s eyes widen when she sees the book. She turns to me. “I find myself underestimating you consistently. Either you intentionally hide your capabilities quite efficiently, or you are an anomaly.”  
I smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment. ‘Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.’” Some of it is intentional, but the majority of it is definitely luck. That and Gamer’s Mind/Body probably.  
Paarthurnax studies me. “A wise saying. You are quite interesting, would you do me the honor of hearing your name?”  
“I’m Dusk.” I say, meeting the dragon’s gaze.   
“Thank you Dusk.” He turns back to speak to Svar but she interrupts him.  
“Joor Zah Frul.” She says quietly as she reads over the shout.  
Paarthurnax visibly flinches as if someone just ran a car into him.   
“How?” He asks once he can control himself. “Those words were lost to time, yet you know them. How can this be?”  
Serana smiles while staring directly at me. “I suppose they weren’t as lost as you believed dragon.”  
I get it lady, leave me alone.  
Paarthurnax turns to face me. Looking at me in a new light. “There is more to you than one can koraav. I would be interested in hosting you for tinvaak when our business is ended.”  
“We’ll see.” I say non committedly.   
Serana hums as she looks at Paarthurnax. “As is now apparent, Svarline already knows the words to manifest this shout. It is merely a matter of her studying them now, so what will you do?”  
The dragon hums. “My role is to be that of a teacher. I would happily serve as the Dovahkiin’s Dovahzul In if she would have me.”  
Svar considers the dragon for a moment. “How do we know that you’re not working with Alduin? You admitted she’s your sister, how do we know you hold no loyalty to her?”  
Really would’ve thought you learned not to play the family angle after the whole conversation with Serana, Svar.  
“I hold no allegiance to my sister.” Paarthurnax explains calmly. “She leads my brothers and sisters down a path of destruction, when there are superior ways with which to use our thu’um. Zu’u dreh ni zein Alduin. I do not worship Alduin as many of my brethren do. She is my sister, but I hold no allegiance to her any longer.”  
“Logically speaking,” I speak up. “He already knows where we are, and can obviously track us somehow. If he wanted to screw us over, he would’ve come with backup. I think we can at least give him a chance.”  
Serana contemplates my words. “Do you believe he is telling the truth?” She asks, staring intently at me.  
I nod. “Yes, I do.”  
Serana hums. “Then I am willing to allow the dragon a chance. The final decision falls to you Svarline.”  
Svar breathes deeply as she stares at the dovah. Eventually, she says, “If you betray us, I will kill you myself.”  
Paarthurnax bares his teeth in a draconic grin. “That will be unnecessary Dovahkiin. I thank you all for your trust.” He bows his massive head.

Quest Complete!  
[A Long Overdue Meeting!]  
You may have ignored the main quest, but the main quest didn’t ignore you! Head outside to meet your visitor!  
Objective- Meet with the visitor(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Impress Paarthurnax(Complete)  
Rewards- 1 Gacha Coin  
Bonus Rewards- 2 Gacha Coins

So now Paarthurnax is staying here. Fun.

  
The next couple of weeks went by fairly quickly just because of all the shit I got done.   
Svar and Paarthurnax found a spot high up the mountain, and only came down to eat.  
I’m not sure how well they’re progressing with their training, but I’m hoping they’ve been able to keep up with me.  
With Svar spending so long up the mountain, I don’t see her all that much. I’m still not sure what we are, and the whole separation thing really isn’t helping the situation. When we both get a moment we need to figure this out.  
Anyway, while she’s been learning from Paarthurnax, I’ve wandered around the area around Sky Haven to hunt down animals I can practice my soul magic on.  
Mr. Rogers tagged along, and acted as a hunting dog. I’m still not really sure how a ghost doggo has an olfactory system, but magic BS is BS and shouldn’t be questioned. Even if one is lucky enough to possess Gamer’s Mind.  
The whole thing was a weird experience. Back home, torturing small animals to death was grounds to be put on a government watch list. It was one of the main warning signs for a developing psychopath for Christ's sake.  
While I didn’t enjoy tearing their very souls apart, the tearing apart itself was intriguing. The more I experiment, the better I become. I’m almost to the point where I’ll be comfortable trying to work on myself a little bit. Definitely going to have Serana around for that in case I fuck up though.  
Whenever one of the animals died, I’d teleport the body back to be stored with the rest of our food. I wasn’t about to throw away free food after all.  
Cool discoveries were made while not so gracefully shattering the very being of small forest creatures. Soul magic is more versatile than I originally thought. Sure I thought it would be good, but it’s better than I had thought. I had my epiphany when I was messing around with a small rabbit. I could feel it. Not just it’s soul, but what it felt. Using it’s soul as an anchor, I was able to feel its panic, I could feel everything it felt. Soul magic can be used to become an empath.  
I was stoked when I figured that out. When I mastered this, I would have a lie detector, another way to tell if attacks are incoming, a way to tell if there are spies around. Empaths are OP, and I can become one now. I was more than a little excited.  
In between my expeditions outside the temple, Serana and I would work on the portal. Without Svar, it’s progressing slower than originally designed, but we’re still making decent headway considering it’s a gateway to the freakin Soul Cairn.   
Serana hasn’t threatened bodily harm to me since the first go in the woods, so I’d say she’s warming up to me. She still terrifies me though.  
When Serana didn’t need my help with the portal, I went over the library a second time, but busted out. The only skill books were another couple hundred copies of the Akaviri sword style. I still took them, but I wasn’t happy about it.  
Trying to make up for the bust in the library, I went over to the second armory and got all the gear back up to snuff.   
I’m not entirely sure why I’m restoring all this stuff. I think it’s probably an unholy combination of Greed, and general Skyrim hoarderness. Such things shouldn’t exist.  
Realizing I was in danger of becoming dragon levels of materialistic, I hopped into some ID’s instead of moving on to the third armory.  
Working with the sword-singing skill book, I was able to figure out the bare basics of the art, so while Broken Limiter works for it, it is by no means efficient.   
Hey Game? How the hell does this perk work anyway? It says any skill can be learned through effort. What exactly qualifies as a skill?

[Good Question!]  
[A skill is anything that can be learned by anyone over time!]  
[The perk allows you to learn anything that can be learned without its prerequisites, but at a much slower pace!]  
[For instance, you could learn the Kamehameha without Ki, and how to fly without actually being able to fly, but you could not learn Serana’s mist form without being a vampire because it is specific to that race!]  
[You will also need a substitute for Ki when performing the Kamehameha, and the knowledge of how to fly is useless without actually having a method to fly!]

I think I’m following, so racial stuff is off limits but anything else goes?

[Yes, only skills can be learned, anything that is an inherent part of something’s being cannot!]

How much slower is the improvement?

[You will learn skills approximately three times faster than a normal human, as opposed to how fast you currently learn them!]

And given that I became a master lightning mage in a little more than a day, that is a pretty significant decrease to my improvement time. How about the substitute for Ki thing? Can I just use mana in its place?

[Provided you have enough to power it, yes!]

Thanks for the info Game.

[You are welcome!]

So it’s a great perk, but not god tier. I’m able to learn anything that can be learned, but I won’t be able to learn superpowers, or any racial features. I guess that means I can learn just about any form of magic, regardless of what class I have, if I’m willing to learn slowly. Which means this is probably one of the best long-term investment perks someone could ask for. Not exactly useful for short term power-ups aside from the EXP increase though, so I’ll probably stick to class leveling until I feel confident in my ability to not get dead.  
With that figured out, I decided to prioritize my Saber class while I was grinding. Both so I could better use Yamato, and because I would be able to see improvement now, instead of later. I’ll work on Sword Singing when I don’t have the threat of the World Eater hanging over my head now that I know I can. Might even take a go at some really restricted forms of magic like the Kaleidoscope, but for now, I need strength as fast as possible, and stuff like that will take centuries to pull off.  
Now that I’m thinking about it, Paarthurnax is here, so Alduin will show up much sooner than I originally thought, and I really don’t want to fight hi…. her... without some serious firepower. Making efficient EXP gain very important.  
Mr. Rogers once again tagged along and helped. He was really cute, but he also triggered some feelings that were so embedded in my head that even Gamer’s Mind didn’t help.  
He held the katana I gave him in his mouth, and he swung it around with his teeth at all the demons we fought.  
I kept getting flashbacks to the Sif fight in Dark Souls, and seeing the big wolf limping while I stabbed it. I still feel bad about that fight man.  
Regardless of my issues, Mr. Rogers is a bit of a badass with that thing. After the first expedition, I enchanted it to be really hard to break, as well as do lots of lightning damage. He’s shockingly good with the blade now.  
Damn, I don’t even feel bad for that one. Svar’s influence no doubt.  
Anyway, alchemy ingredients were acquired, demon’s agony filled screams assaulted the air, and I got quite a few levels for the fiveish days I spent grinding in between helping Serana with the portal, and my soul magic experimentation. I tried using the demons as lab rats for said soul magic, but couldn’t. They’re either too strong, or don’t have souls. I don’t know which.

Level Up! x31  
Gain +310 Stat points!

For reaching 400 STR you have gained a perk!  
You lift bro?  
You are able to lift and carry 2 times as much as you would normally

For reaching 500 STR you have gained a perk!  
Hardened Muscles  
Your muscles are tough, making weaker blows deflect off of your skin

For reaching 400 END you have gained a perk!  
Noctis  
You no longer require sleep

For reaching 500 END you have gained a perk!  
Hardy  
SP/HP now equal END x 20

For reaching 400 DEX you have gained a perk!  
Mr. Anderson  
Your reflexes are unparalleled. You no longer have any delay between your thoughts and actions.

For reaching 700 INT you have gained a perk!  
Comic Book Genius  
You have the brain of a comic book genius. Learning various technologies and sciences are 20% easier.

For reaching 700 WIS you have gained a perk!  
Archmage  
All magic is 10% easier to learn

For reaching 300 CHA you have gained a perk!  
Attractive  
People who are attracted to your sex will find you at least passably attractive.

For reaching 300 LUK you have gained a perk!  
When gambling, you are 25% more likely to win.

You have maxed out the Blacksmith class! Your 13 levels will carry over to your next Crafting Class!

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 162  
Class- Saber - LVL 63/100 [12%]  
Crafting Class- N/A [0%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 11360 [2272 per minute]  
MP- 14720 [2944 per minute]  
SP- 11360 [2272 per minute]  
STR- 564  
END- 568  
DEX - 436  
INT - 736  
WIS - 736  
CHA - 380  
LUK - 384  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 4  
SP/HP= END x 20

[Select a sword style for reaching LVL 50 Saber!]  
[Iaido/Djem So/Jigen-ryu]

I have no idea what any of those are.  
Wait, Djem So? Isn’t that a lightsaber form? How the hell is that supposed to help me with a blade? I can’t use the force, and Yamato only has one cutting edge, so that’s out.  
Between the other two…. I still have no idea what either of those are. Random selection it is!  
Eenie meenie miney you!

[Jigen-ryu sword style gained!]

Huh. So that’s what that is. Lot’s of emphasis on one strike. That will actually synergize quite nicely with the Akaviri Sword style I picked up earlier, so a pretty good pull.  
Grinding went quite nicely.  
Only one thing left to do now. I really hope this counts as gambling.

[It doesn’t!]

Crap, oh well.  
I activate Felix Felicis and start on my Gacha coins.

Item Added!  
Darth Maul’s Lightsaber  
Petty Item  
Use this wonderful item to feel like the fearsome Sith Darth Maul!  
(Batteries not included)

Fuck yes! I just got a freakin lightsaber! While I might not be all that excited about the double sided aspect, this is still a great pull. Between this and Yamato, I’ll be set fo.....  
Wait… Batteries not included?  
I pull the item out and have to try very hard not to crush it in a fit of rage.  
Feel like Darth Maul. I get it now, the damn thing gave me a fucking toy. It’s one of those plastic replicas that lights up and makes noise and shit.   
Sadly I don’t have any fucking batteries.  
This honestly might be more depressing than the damn rock.  
Screw it, try again.

Item Added!  
Ring of Invisibility  
Uncommon Item  
This ring will turn the wearer invisible at will with zero risk of being corrupted by Sauron.

Could be worse, but not exactly good.   
I put the ring on and turn myself invisible. Yay! Now I’m hidden from everything in this universe! That doesn’t have super hearing, or smell, or sensing magic, or any number of other ways the denizens of The Elder Scrolls can determine my location. I sigh as I deactivate the ring.  
One more. Let's hope it’s good.

Item Added!  
Liquid Schwartz  
Rare Item  
This jug contains 5 liters of liquid schwartz

….I honestly cannot tell if I should be angry or not. If I remember correctly this is just glorified gasoline, and that’s pretty damn useless to me right now.  
Oh look! It comes with a Cracker Jack Box! I’ve just decided that I’m violently angry!  
I jump into a werewolf ID and wreak absolute havoc for five seconds.  
I sigh as I return to the real world and throw everything from the Gacha into my inventory.  
Well that was a waste of Felix Felicis. I really need to start using that for other things, but I keep forgetting I have it.  
I spend another half-hour playing sword fetch with Mr. Rogers to cheer myself up, before I begin my walk back towards where we’ve been eating.  
Thinking it over, I don’t need to sleep now. I guess I could work on the portal through the night to help shave some time off it’s construction. I mean, I don’t really think anything major will happen soon, so we’ve got time, but it would be nice to have it functional soon.  
Now that I’m thinking about it, how am I going to get in the Soul Cairn. You can’t in the game unless you’re a vampire or you get soul trapped, and I don’t want to get soul trapped. I’m willing to bet the Ideal Masters will keep my soul in something more secure than a stone chest. As to the other option, I doubt Serana’s willing to turn me, and I’m not sure I’d go for it even if she would. Molag Bal would have a pretty non-negotiable claim on me if I went that way, and again, I don’t have a Gamer’s Soul skill to combat that.  
I suppose I could try to work something out with soul magic to counteract the negative, but I’m still a novice, so I don’t know if it would work.  
I break from my thoughts as I enter an empty mess hall. Guess no one’s hungry. That, or I missed them.  
I shrug and grab some dried venison before leaving. Might as well get some work done on the portal.  
Getting it done should take precedence. I’ll worry about traversing the Soul Cairn when we get it working, but for now, it can wait.  
I finish off my meal as I enter the room where we’ve begun our work, and find Serana leaning over a table as she makes notes in various notebooks she has laid out.  
“How far have you gotten since I left?” I ask as I walk up next to her.  
“I’ve almost finished constructing the base. We’ll still need to empower it once I have finished though.” She says without looking away from her notes. “Feel free to rest. I am more than capable of handling this.”  
“I’ll be fine for awhile.” I say back. “The sooner we get this done the better, and many hands make for light work.”  
Serana raises an eyebrow at me. “Hmm, in that case, could you take over charging the circle? I’ll get started with the gems.”  
I nod and the two of us begin working.  
We work for a couple of hours in silence. Focused on making progress.  
Serana breaks the silence when the two of us stop to take a short break.  
“You are quite strange Dusk.” She says after she takes a sip from a wineskin.  
“Thanks?” I say in between bites of rabbit.  
She chuckles lightly. “It was merely an observation, not meant to be an insult.”  
I raise an eyebrow. “Thanks?” I say again.  
We slip back into silence as we continue eating.  
Serana’s gaze never drifts far from me however. After I finish my snack, I turn to face her.  
“What?” I ask.  
“I am trying to determine what you are doing here.” She answers. “You wish to travel, yet you have gone out of your way to acquire an underground fortress. You wish to keep to yourself, yet you have various plans in motion to prevent certain entities from ending the world. You contradict yourself consistently, but are not motivated by cowardice. So why are you here? Why involve yourself in matters that will attract attention you’d rather not have?” She asks curiously as she gazes intently at me.  
I lean back in my chair as I consider her question.   
Do I want to travel around and see the sights? Yes, but there have to be sights to see. Like it or not, I’m stuck here now. I might have gotten a kickass ability in the process, but I’m still subject to the absolute bullshit that is this universe. I might be able to work out a way to planeswalk, but until then, I have to assume I’m here for the long haul. I’d much rather live in a world free from dragons and apocalypse seeking vampires, but this is my lot.  
I look back at Serana as I find my answer. “I don’t have a choice.” I say simply. “I could run, but that just means I die a little later on.”  
Serana hums. “I’m sure you could figure something out. With your knowledge of the world and its secrets, as well as your ability to adapt, you could assuredly keep yourself safe. The sun may die, but you could simply return to Blackreach and harvest plants which do not require sunlight. The dragons may rule again, but you have already slain their brethren. You could secure a location and hold it until age takes you. So why? Why do you involve yourself in these matters? My mother is of no concern to you, and yet you aid me in my efforts to free her. Is it some misguided sense of heroics? Why do you stay?”  
I chuckle lightly. “I won’t live under a rock. There’s more to life than simply surviving, spending a couple centuries asleep in that tomb should have taught you that.” Her eyes narrow at me, but I don’t back down. “Could I survive with my knowledge? Could I run and be free? Probably, but I want to be free. Running isn’t freedom, it’s just staying ahead of whatever is trying to make me subservient. I’m not a hero, nor do I want to be one. That’s a good way to both get killed, and forcibly involved in shit I just don’t want anything to do with. I don’t see what I’m doing as helping the world. I see it as making sure that I can live in a world I can tolerate. If everyone else benefits? Fine, but they can go fuck themselves for all I care. I want to be left alone, but I’m not naive enough to think the world will leave me be, so I’m pre-empting its actions against me. Because I want to be free.”   
I stand and meet Serana’s gaze. “My version of free. Not everyone else’s. If you asked a peasant what freedom was, they’d probably answer something along the lines of, ‘Not having to pay taxes to my lord, and being able to do what I want without anyone bothering me.’ Now, if you asked me what freedom is, I’d give you a different answer.”  
Serana’s crimson eyes seem to shine as she looks at me. “And what, pray tell, is your perception of freedom?”  
I grin at her. “Freedom is being so fucking strong that no one can dare tell you what to do. Being so fucking powerful, that no one will even think about interfering with your business. Being able to do whatever you want, because no one in their right mind would ever stand opposite you. That’s why I’m here, because I’m not that strong yet. Because I need to train, and I need to grow stronger. You can help me with that, so I’m helping you. Do you scare me? Yes, but I’m not going to back down just because you could kill me. I’ll just use you as a point of comparison, once I’m strong enough to beat you, I’ll be close to where I need to be.”  
Serana chuckles brightly as she too stands and stares at me. “You don’t think me strong enough to live as you wish to? You think me too weak to live my own way? While I am certainly not the strongest entity I have met, I am far from the weakest.” Her eyes narrow and the temperature in the chamber slowly drops. “Perhaps I should teach you a lesson hmm? You are not remotely close to my level, and your proclamation was insulting. You will not be able to defeat me for a long time.” She slowly stalks towards me as frost begins to gather on the stone floor. “Perhaps I should simply kill you instead? I no longer need you after all. I have your notes on the portal, and you have told me all I need to know about Miraak. Why should I suffer you in my presence?” She snarls, now barely a foot away from me.  
Thank the lord for Gamer’s Mind. I don’t know if this is some fucked up test, or if I actually managed to piss her off, but I cannot back down here.   
I hold my ground and meet her gaze unflinching. “I can’t beat you, but if we throw down you won’t win.”  
Serana bares her fangs in a grin. “If you cannot beat me, then how exactly would I possibly fail?” Her eyes shine once more, and I activate Godspeed as my sixth sense triggers.  
She’s already moving before Godspeed can fully activate, so I’m defenseless as she grabs me by the throat and runs to a nearby wall. She slams me against it without releasing her grip on me. A Dusk shaped crater is left in the wall from the impact.

-200 HP

Serana leans close to me, and the nails gripping my throat slowly sharpen into long claws.  
“Tell me Dusk,” She sneers as she holds my throat. “What can you do from this position? How will you….” She’s cut off as a very sharp blade appears from nowhere and comes to rest against her throat.  
“How powerful are you Serana?” I ask calmly. “Are you on the level of a Daedric Artifact? No? Too bad. That or an Elder Scroll is about the only thing that can stop this blade from severing it’s target. Now, you’re fast. Fast enough that you could rip out a regular person's throat before they can so much as twitch. I’m not a regular person though am I? I have Godspeed active, and I have an ability that warns me of incoming attacks. So, do you want to kill me? You are surely able to, but are you willing to pay the price?”  
Serana glares into my eyes. Our faces so close together that the tips of our noses are touching. Neither one of us moves.  
“Go ahead.” I say. “Make. My. Day.”  
Serana’s claws tighten down on my throat slightly, and I dig Yamato’s blade into her throat in response. Blood begins to seep from both of our necks.  
Serana’s hard features begin to lighten, and she releases my neck as she pulls away. Stepping back a pace.  
She holds my gaze, and brings her claws up to her mouth. She begins licking my blood off them even as she holds my gaze.  
Once her claws are clean, she smiles. Her eyes light up and her claws retract, returning her hands to normal. The frost begins to recede from the floor, and the temperature rises slightly.  
Serana begins to lightly chuckle, then she begins to laugh. The vampiress starts cackling, her voice echoing off the cave walls. Her gaze never leaves mine.  
Her eyes gleam as she brings herself under control. “Dusk,” She says with a sultry voice. “before you were intriguing, but now? Now you are more.” She casually walks up to me again.  
I keep Yamato ready, but I won’t strike unless Sixth Sense triggers.  
Serana walks up and places her hand on my cheek. “I will make you strong Dusk. Then, together, we will be free.”  
I scoff, but don’t pull away. “What? All of a sudden I’m worthy of you? Sorry lady, but I’m not letting anyone tell me how to live my life. That includes you.”  
She hums as she uses her other hand to stroke where her claws had cut into me. “No blood.” Her eyes draw up to meet mine. “Not even a cut. I could’ve sworn I had left marks upon you just a few moments ago.”   
Absurd HP regen will do that.  
“If that’s all for tonight,” I say, breaking her monologue. “then I’m going to sleep. I think we’ve both had enough excitement for one evening wouldn’t you agree?”  
Serana smiles widely. Showing me fangs with small traces of my blood on them. “I suppose so. Do tell Svarline I said hello.” She pulls back with a chuckle as she walks back to the portal base.  
I start towards the door, being sure to use my electromancy and soul magic to keep track of her. I didn’t expect her to jump me, but I’m not getting caught off guard a second time.  
“Sleep well Dusk.” Serana says, facing away from me, when I reach the exit.  
I don’t answer, instead I just leave.  
I walk back to the room Svar and I share and find her already asleep.  
I lay down next to her and just relax there a moment.  
I did not expect that at all. Where in the absolute fuck did that even come from?  
It had to be a stupid mind game like she’s been playing with Svar. I guess without a Dovahkiin to harass, she defaulted to me.  
Svar shuffles in her sleep, and her arms snake around me.  
I allow myself a small smile.  
I’ll figure it out later, along with everything else I said I’ll figure out later. I really need to stop procrastinating this stuff.  
Eh, I’ll stop procrastinating later, and there is absolutely nothing ironic about that statement.  
I lean against Svar and close my eyes.  
I might not need sleep anymore, but after that whole fiasco with Serana, I’m exhausted.  
I lightly kiss Svar’s forehead as I begin to drift off.

(Interlude: Mirabelle Ervine)

Why are we here? The college is more than capable of defending itself, and the nords have been nothing but antagonistic towards us for decades. Why do I have to sit here and listen to this?  
“You. Did. What?!?!?!?” Jarl Laila yells.  
The blonde haired Jarl Balgruuf takes her outburst without flinching. “I will be the first to fault myself for how we handled the situation. The blame rests solely on my shoulders, but the consequences of my actions will affect us all.”  
Jarl Ulfric grunts. “Yes. They most certainly will. If the one you wronged was truly the dragonborn, then we need to find her immediately, and explain that the rest of Skyrim does not share Whiterun’s stance.”  
The blonde Jarl turns to glare at him. “We made a mistake, one I will never repeat. Do not paint my people as villains for one ill advised action. We are already working to make things right with the dragonborn.”  
“But you don’t know where she is.” Jarl Elisif says, drawing the room’s attention. “You said yourself that your efforts to track her were defeated by how her companion chose to escape, yes?”  
Balgruuf nods. “Yes. Our hounds found their scent around the entire perimeter of the city. My rangers were still trying to find the true direction her and her companion journeyed in when my company left to answer your summons.”  
“What role did the Companions play in this?” Savos asks curiously. Speaking up for the first time.  
The Harbinger goes to answer, but Whiterun’s Jarl cuts him off.  
“None whatsoever. This was my mistake. The Companions were nothing but courteous to the dragonborn, a stance I should have mirrored.”  
The Harbinger nods to Savos when the Jarl stops speaking.  
Savos begins to stroke his beard. “Then perhaps the Companions should be the ones to track her down. I am sure they are more than capable of such, and being on good terms with the dragonborn will ensure she stays to listen to them.”  
The Harbinger nods to Savos. “I have already set my best trackers on it. Aela and Skjor left two days after the dragonborn disappeared.”  
Balgruuf looks surprised at this news. “Why did you not see fit to inform me of this action?”  
The Harbinger regards the Jarl coldly. “It is apparent that I am not kept informed of your own activities. Why should I extend you a courtesy denied to myself?”  
The two men glare at one-another across the table.  
“Peace!” Elisif calls out. “This discussion is getting us nowhere. We will deal with the dragonborn when we have actionable information on her. For now, we must address how to approach the issue in Morthal.”  
Jarl Igmund scoffs. “I don’t see the major issue. Arm our forces with silver and send our best restoration mages with them. There may be vampires, but we deal with vampires regularly. If we send enough soldiers, we will prevail.”  
The Jarl from Riften clenches her teeth. “Not only do I find your casual sacrifice of your people detestable, but I would remind you these are not the vampires we typically deal with.”  
Igmund laughs. “Why? Because an incompetent spell flinger says so? A coward who fled from the walls cannot be trusted to give actionable intelligence.”  
Elisif stands. “Jarl Igmund. You were invited here so your words could be heard, but I will not stand by while you insult my Court Wizard’s capabilities. I trust her word, and her experience. As such, I will not send my troops into the city without a plan. One that extends past your own of, ‘Throw bodies at it until it solves itself.’ My men are not expendable.” She growls the last words.  
“Nor are mine.” Ulfric, surprisingly, supports her.  
“Nor mine.” Laila speaks cooly.   
“As wonderful as this little display of camaraderie is,” Jarl Korir says. “I do not believe it is going anywhere.” He turns to face Savos and myself. “Do you believe the Court Wizard’s information to be accurate.”  
“Yes.” I say immediately. “Sybille is an old friend. I know what she is capable of, and if she fears this threat, it is greater than any undead horde we have faced before.  
Sybille smiles across the table at me, and lifts her ‘wine’ glass in salute.  
She’s actually enjoying all this bullshit isn’t she?  
Korir nods, and turns back to face the other Jarls. “If the College vouches for the Court Wizards capabilities, then I will trust her.” He turns to face Sybille. “What special preparation would you advise we make?”  
Huh. Never would have expected him to trust our word on anything. Did someone slip him some skooma?  
Sybille goes to speak, but is interrupted.  
“I must support Jarl Igmund.” Jarl Skald interrupts. “The word of a mage means nothing, the word of two mages means even less. I do not know their agenda, but it is not in line with our own. I will not dedicate all of my resources to whatever plan they have concocted. Dawnstar will not be blindsided by Winterhold.”  
Korir growls at the man. “You would accuse me of treachery?”  
And just like that, the entire table is yelling at each other once again.  
I gently begin to rub my forehead as I turn to Savos. “Why are we even here?” I ask. “The College is supposed to be neutral to the matters of Skyrim. What exactly are we trying to accomplish here?”  
Savos gives me an amused smile. “I know politics are not your forte Mirabelle, but they have their place. As to our purpose, the dragons have the potential to affect more than just Skyrim. They threaten us as well.”  
I roll my eyes. “Yes, but our wards will be able to hold them. Wards that have been steadily enhanced for centuries I might remind you. We don’t have a large number of warriors, so we cannot contribute much. Why should we put ourselves in harm’s way when the nords have never done a thing to support us?”  
Savos hums annoyingly. “There is a story I read once.” He begins. “It was written by the Champion of Cyrodiil believe it or not. The man must have been as accomplished a scholar as he was a warrior.”  
I raise an eyebrow. “And this story was…?”  
He smiles at me as we both ignore the bickering elite around us. “There was once a man whose village came under assault by a terrible foe referred to as the Nazis. The attackers said all would be spared, all except those who worshipped Arkay, for those who worshipped Arkay were responsible for the village’s problems. The man did not resist, for he did not worship Arkay. He was safe. The attackers returned a week hence, and said all would be spared, all except those who were miners, for the miners were in league with those who worshipped Arkay, and therefore to blame for the town’s misfortunes. The man did not fight back, for he was not a miner. He was safe. The attackers returned after another week had passed, saying all would be spared, except those who were farmers, for much the same reason. Once more, the man did not stand up in his neighbors defense, for he was not a farmer. He was safe, and those who harmed his village should be punished for their misdeeds.” My old teacher trails off, and looks off into nothing.  
“That’s it? I don’t really see how that has any bearing on the current situation.”   
Savos turns back to me with a smile. “No, that is not the end. The attackers returned the following week, and proclaimed they would take all of the carpenters. The man panicked, for he was a carpenter. He looked to his neighbors, so he could beseech them for aid, so that he could tell them the Nazis were lying about his activities. To say he had only ever been loyal to the village, but when he looked around, he found himself alone. There was no one left to stand up to the attackers. All had already been taken by the Nazis.”  
I sit there for a moment, before sighing as I realize what my mentor is saying.  
“So we must join with them now, instead of keeping to ourselves and finding no allies when the battle finally does threaten us?”  
Savos’s eyes shine. “Exactly Mirabelle. You do not need to be pleased with this, I can honestly say I’m not, but this is the correct course of action.”  
I nod. “You haven’t led us astray yet Savos, so I’ll trust you.”  
He bows his head slightly. “I appreciate your trust in me.”  
“ENOUGH!!” Two voices cry out in unison.  
The room turns to face Jarls Ulfric and Elisif, who are both standing.  
“Move past your petty differences, or we will all suffer the consequences.” Elisif seeths.  
“None of us can fight this battle alone, so pull your heads out of your asses and cooperate.” Ulfric says.  
Huh, wouldn’t have expected those two to work together on anything. Desperate times and all that I guess.  
Ulfric turns to Sybille. “What will we need to retake Morthal?”  
Sybille sets down her empty wine glass and turns her head to study the Jarl. “We will need silver weapons of course, but they will not be enough. The College has several mages who specialize in the construction, and destruction of undead. Those specialists will be valuable beyond measure. We will…”  
“Necromancers!!!! You wish to employ the service of necromancers?” Igmund cries with wide eyes.  
“Who knows better how to destroy something, than he who created it?” I ask, supporting my friend. “Our necromancers will at the very least be able to ensure that theirs are unable to finely control their horde.”  
Jarl Skald scoffs. “What benefit will that provide? Our warriors are superior to any ‘finely controlled undead’ they could possibly hope to make.”  
“Yes.” Sybille speaks up. “Your warriors are quite used to fighting mindless undead in the dozens, but what about undead controlled by someone who can think? Someone who can strategize? That is the largest reason this threat is so significant. Your men need verbal orders to coordinate themselves, undead do not. A single mental command, and every single one of them moves into position. We will need our own necromancers to remove that advantage.”  
Skald and Igmund continue to glare, but do not speak up.  
Sybille keeps listing what she recommends the Jarls do, when a thought occurs to me.  
I turn to Savos. “We’ve been here for a whole day already.”  
He turns to me with a raised eyebrow. “Yes. That is correct.”  
“We haven’t discussed even a single strategy for what to do when the next dragon attacks.” I say in disbelief.  
He breaks out into a grin. “It’s politics my dear, of course we haven’t gotten anything done yet!”  
My jaw hangs open, and I turn to Sybille.  
She is trying very hard not to laugh while she continues her speech to the Jarls.  
Vampiric bitch, how the hell does she consider this fun?

(Interlude: Potema)

I must admit, this has gone even better than I thought it would.  
Sitting in my throne with my generals at my side, I silently read the report made by our scouts.  
“How should we prepare the troops in response to this news my Lady?” Movarth asks from my right.  
I chuckle softly, my body’s voice speaking up in response. “We don’t need to my old friend. My original plans would have had us confronting the Jarls months from now, but they have made our job so much easier.” I turn to my newest servant. “My Crone, I’m going to give you a little message, and you’re going to bring it to your old allies.”  
The woman still fights against my control. I knew I chose well. For in time, she will become a greater asset than even Movarth.  
“I… I’ll do as… as you… Go. To. Hell. Bitch.” The crone forcibly bites out as her body trembles.  
Movarth snarls, but I pat his arm reassuringly as I let out a mirth filled chuckle.  
I stand from my throne and gently pet her cheek. “Fight all you wish Crone, but you’re mine now. In time, the world will come to utter your title in the same breath as my own, and on that day, you will thank me for all I’ve given you.” I lean forward and place a chaste kiss on her lips, prompting her to snarl at me.  
I chuckle once more as I walk over to my desk, retrieving the seal I had made.  
I place the letter I wrote within the envelope and seal it shut, handing it off to my servant.  
“Go now Crone. Deliver my message, and return to me quickly. We still have much to do after all.”  
She growls at me with narrowed eyes, but is forced to follow my orders. She takes the letter and leaves the building.  
I let out a pleased sigh as I sit on my throne once more, a tall glass of crimson fluid in my hand.  
“Are you sure it is wise to send her alone my Lady?” Movarth asks from his place at my side. “She could act against us.”  
I turn to face him with a smile. “She will try at first, but when she meets those she would die for even now, her people, she will be scorned. They will turn her away, call her a monster, a traitor, and she will be left with nothing but her own thoughts. Soon, she will aid us willingly, and seek to burn those she once called friend.”  
Movarth’s grin is manic. “I look forward to the show my lady.”  
I hum and continue sipping my drink. Things are well in motion now, I can hardly wait for what comes next.


	13. 13

“Dusk. Wake up.”  
I pop my eyes open and look towards the source of the soft voice.  
“Morning.” Svar says as she looks down at me. Her eyes crinkle slightly as she smiles.  
“Hey.” I say sitting up. “You’re not with Paarthurnax yet?”   
She shakes her head. “He’s hunting right now, so we’ve got some time. Food?” She produces a thin strip of dried meat and holds it out to me.  
I let the corner of my lip pull up. “Breakfast in bed? What did I do to deserve such pampering?”  
She shrugs. “Not really breakfast. It’s just after noon, but I let you sleep.”  
I take the offered meal and give her a wide grin. “Thanks a brunch!”  
Her eyes shine. “You’re welcome, I didn’t want to wake you up because you seemed tired. When did you go to sleep anyway?”   
I think for a second. “Probably around five or six in the morning? You could’ve woken me up though. I don’t really need sleep anymore.”  
She pauses her chewing and raises an eyebrow. “You just developed the ability to not need sleep?”  
I nod and turn to her curiously. “What? Can’t you do that?”  
She just stares at me for a second longer before letting out a long breath. “You are such bullshit.”  
I widen my eyes and let my jaw hang open. “Oh no! The dragonborn thinks my abilities aren’t fair! No need to do anything drastic! Don’t use your words!”  
She chuckles and lightly punches me on the shoulder. She scoots closer to me and leans into my side. “Sorry we haven’t really gotten a chance to be together lately. The thu’um is frustrating to learn.”  
I lean back into her. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been working on a lot too, so I get it.”  
We lapse back into silence as we finish off our ‘breakfast’.  
I guess this is as good a time as any.  
“Svar?” I ask her.  
She turns her head to look up at me. “Ya?”  
I look at her seriously. “What are we?” I ask her.  
Her eyebrows draw together when she hears me. “What do you mean?” She asks, confused.  
I motion between the two of us. “This. Us. What are we? We’ve never really made anything clear, and I’m not all that experienced with relationships, so I don’t want to read into something that isn’t there.”  
She shuffles away from me so she can better face me. “I thought it was obvious. Why? What do you think we are?” She asks. Suddenly sounding vulnerable.  
Crap. Am I doing this wrong? No, all I did was ask the question right? Or was I supposed to guess what she’s thinking? How the fuck am I supposed to do that?!?  
Ok, just be honest and open. I think that’s how this is supposed to go right?  
“I don’t know.” I say honestly. “That’s why I’m asking. I like you, I like you a lot, but I don’t want to push you too fast, or take things any further if you’re not interested.”  
She frowns a little. “Have I not been acting interested?”  
Fuck.  
How the hell does she mean that?!? Like, ‘have I not been acting interested enough’, or ‘have I been acting in a way that makes you think I’m interested’?  
This is so fucking confusing. Just go for honesty.  
I shrug. “Like I said. I’m bad at this, I’ve never really been in a serious relationship, so I can’t tell if that’s what you want, or if you just want a really good friend.”  
She looks at me through half lidded eyes as she gives me a deadpan stare. “I’ve kissed you. Repeatedly.”  
What does that mean?!?!? I don’t know the customs in freaking Bruma!!!   
“Ok, I’m even more confused than when I started this conversation, so I’m just going to be as blunt as possible. Fuck subtlety, it’s obviously lost on me. Do you, Svarline, wish to pursue a serious romantic relationship with me, Dusk?”  
She moves closer and presses her forehead against mine. “Yes. I do.” She tilts her chin forwards and kisses me.  
Her hands move up to my chest and push me onto my back so she can lie on top of me.  
She pulls back and rests her hands on either side of my head as she looks down at me. “Was that blunt enough?” She asks amused.  
I smile up at her. “I don’t know, I might need a little more convincing.”  
She grins and leans back down.  
Once we’re both out of breath, a surprising feat given I need to breath half as much as a normal person, we lay side by side and stare at the ceiling.  
“Sorry.” Svar suddenly speaks up.  
I roll my head to look over at her. “What?”  
She meets my gaze. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it clear. I’m new to this too, so I’ve just kind of been winging it. The whole dragonborn thing isn’t doing me any favors in that regard either.”   
I tilt my head. “How so?”  
She looks back at the ceiling and sighs. “You know how I said everything is more vivid?”  
“Ya.”  
“Well it’s essentially like I’m feeling everything twice as strongly as I did before, with a few exceptions. I’ve noticed greed, anger, and possessiveness have been increased by what feels like a factor of five.” She chuckles wryly. “It’s kind of sad really. Every day after I train with Paarthurnax I go down to the vault just to sit with the gold, and fiddle with that little black stick box thing you gave me. It serves no purpose, but I love to do it.”  
Little black stick box thing? Does she mean that Commodore controller?  
Wow that feels like a year ago.  
I scoot closer and pull her into a hug. “I may not know exactly what you’re going through, but I can sympathize. I’m not going to leave you just because you’re a little dragony. You haven’t said why this is hard for you though. I would assume it’s magnifying feelings like love as well right.”  
Svar swallows nervously but nods at me. “Yes, but that’s not really all.”  
“What else is causing you trouble?” I try to ask gently.  
She goes to respond, but stops as her eyes focus on a spot a little ways up the far wall.  
I follow her gaze but I just see rock. “What’s up?” I ask.  
She snaps out of it and turns back to me. She lets out a soft sigh. “Paarthurnax is on his way back. I’ve got to go.” She drags herself to her feet and reaches her arms high above her head to stretch.  
That shirt is very form fitting…  
“Enjoying the view?” She asks with an amused voice.  
“Yes, I am.” I say unashamed without looking away.  
She brings her hands back down and grins at me. “Good.” She leans over the bed and pulls me in for a kiss.  
She presses against me and brings a hand to the back of my neck to pull me closer while our tongues duel.  
Eventually needing to breath, she pulls away with a contented smile on her face. “Come up the mountain a little later in the evening. I’ve been wanting to spar with you, and Paarthurnax is pretty sure he’ll be able to cover us, so we won’t need to worry about giving away the temple’s location.”  
“Will do.” I say. “I’ve got some things I need to get done first, but I should be able to finish everything fairly quickly.”  
“Good.” She gives me a quick peck on the lips and walks out of the room. “Kick your ass later!” She calls over her shoulder.  
“Wait!” I call out.  
Svar pokes her head back into the room. “Ya?”  
I reach into my inventory and pull out the fake-ass Darth Maul lightsaber.  
“Catch.” I say and toss it to her.  
She snags it out of the air and begins inspecting it with a shine in her eyes.  
“You can keep that too. I haven’t been able to make it do anything, but you might be able to figure something out.” I say.  
She looks back up at me with an expression on her face I can’t quite decipher. She jogs over to the bed and pulls me up by my shirt to give me another long kiss.  
“Thank you.” She says as she releases me.  
I smile. “You’re welcome. Kick your ass later.”  
She snorts. “You’ll try.” She backs out of the room and heads up to meet with her mentor.  
I shake my head to myself once she leaves.  
Master Yoda has taught me well Svarline. Do, or do not. There is no try. Therefore, I will win! Mwahahahahaha!  
I might have issues.  
I shrug, and roll off the bed, stretching my legs out as I stand.  
To-do list time.  
Grinding, grinding, portal work, mountain spar.  
Well that was quick.  
I exit the room and start down the halls to the broom closet I’ve been entering my ID’s from when a voice speaks out from the shadows.  
“Good afternoon Dusk.” Serana says as she appears.  
I stop and study her for a moment.   
She doesn't seem like she’s going to attack me again, but one can never be too careful.  
“Afternoon.” I say. “Is there something I can help you with?”  
She hums. “I would like to speak to you if that would be possible.”  
I bring one hand up and begin massaging the side of my face.  
“As long as it doesn’t take too long, and we skip the part where we threaten bodily harm upon one-another.”  
Her lips part into a smile. “Of course. Now, I wish to discuss our encounter last night. I will admit I got a little carried away, and would like to apologize for that.”  
I sigh and wave her off. “Don’t bother. I get it, you’re a millennia old vampire that passes the time by poking things with very sharp sticks. Keep it to a minimum, and don’t actively try to harm Svar or myself, and we’ll get along. Anything else, or can I get back to training?”  
Serana’s smile turns into a frown. “You are not angry?”  
I narrow my eyes. “About you threatening to kill me? No, I’m pissed, but attacking you over it isn’t going to solve anything. I won’t be able to change the way you act around Svar and I without some pretty serious nuclear options, and in the end, it’s just not worth the effort. Be aware though, if you make it worth the effort, I won’t give you any warning. You’re stronger than me, so I’d have to use every advantage I could get to beat you. Don’t fuck with us, and we won’t fuck with you. Clear?”  
One corner of her lip pulls upwards as she raises an eyebrow at me. “A little overconfident aren’t you?”  
I shrug. “Maybe, maybe not. You gonna pin me against a wall and find out?”  
She chuckles. “I don’t know… It could be fun don’t you think? We could even get some chains if you’re into that?” She says in a sultry voice.  
I give her a deadpan look. “Sorry. I’m involved with someone else, as you damn well know. I appreciate the training, but I don’t trust you anymore. I forgot our goals align only so long as you want them to. You reminded me of that last night, and I don’t plan to forget it again. Now was that everything?”  
She grips her chin with her hand, and slowly walks towards me. She stops two paces away, and leans her upper body closer so she can study me.  
Her features go from contemplative, to mirthful as her red eyes meet my gaze.  
“If you keep acting this way, I might just grow fond of you.” She withdraws and takes a step back. “No, that was not all.” She continues. “I merely wished to get the drama out of the way before we conducted our business.”  
I look up at the ceiling as I take a deep breath. “What business?” I ask as I look back down.  
She motions for me to follow her, and begins leading me towards the portal room.  
“I have been raising the various birds and other small animals that you kill while practicing your soul magic, so we would have some inconspicuous ground and aerial reconnaissance. I have been keeping them localized, but slowly increasing their reach with every new addition.” She says as we walk.  
“And I’m guessing they found something that we should worry about?” I ask.   
If it’s not one thing it’s another. Seriously, can I catch a fucking break?  
Serana nods. “While this time period is unfamiliar to me, I have noticed several oddities. There has been no traffic going east for quite some time, but there are a large number of people who have gone west.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Maybe people are heading to Markarth because it’ll be more defendable if the dragons decide to keep attacking cities.”  
She shakes her head. “From what you told me of Windhelm’s fate, fortifications mean little when a dragon is involved. Besides, almost every person on the road has looked as if they did not prepare for the journey. Only one carried a knapsack, and it was small, and unladen.”  
I let out a sigh. “Meaning they weren’t planning on leaving.”  
Serana nods. “It seems something is causing a mass exodus from the east.”  
We make it back to the portal room and sit down at a table in opposing seats, so we can face each other.  
I lean my elbows against the wood and support my forehead with my hands  
“Ok, so there was probably another dragon attack, and one of the cities got hit. How does that change our plans?” I ask her. “Even if we wanted to go after them, Svar’s not ready, I’m not ready, and I’m pretty sure you don’t really care about them so long as they leave you alone. There’s also the fact that we’ve barely gotten the portal started, which you do care about.” I lift my head up to look at her. “I don’t know what you want me to do about this.”  
Serana grips her chin. “That is the thing, I do not believe it was a dragon attack.”  
I sit up straighter in my chair. “And you think this way because….?”  
“For one thing,” She begins. “a dragon would not have left so many alive unless they were attempting to send a message. I have seen over two hundred refugees walk past on the road. Some were in large groups, and some were on their own, but there were far too many to have lived through a serious dragon attack. For another, several of the larger groups were set upon by undead. Nothing for us to be concerned about mind you, there was nothing more threatening than a few strong draugr, but the attacks seemed coordinated.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Undead are all over Skyrim. It’s not too far-fetched to think that a couple of them were attracted to the very large, very undefended, people who just ran away from god knows what.”  
Serana shakes her head. “That is not what I mean. They were coordinated, and seemed to be following after them. Hunting them. As if they were the very reason the people ran in the first place.”  
I lean back against the table and start massaging my temples. “So what? We’ve got a cult of well equipped necromancers running around? Unless they find us here, I don’t really see how that’s our problem.”  
Serana shrugs at me. “Currently? It is not our problem, but I would rather be prepared for it, than be caught, as you say, ‘flat footed’. With your knowledge, do you know of any necromantic organization that could take a well fortified city or town?”  
I sit up straight. “I guess I see your point. As for knowing of any necromancers that could pull something like that off? Not off the top of my head. Miraak’s cultists are mages, but I’m not sure how many of them specialize in necromancy. There’s a group hanging out in a tomb with some powerful ghosts bound, but they’re non-hostile unless you mess with them. There’s another lady whose husband died. She got all pissed off because he went to fight in the war but ended up dead, and they cremated him before she could raise him. She’s a non-issue though. She’ll only target the Imperials and Stormcloaks, and that’s if she amassed a large enough force.”  
I pause as I think it over. “Out of the entire group, none of them are coordinated enough, or powerful enough to take a city. If we’re talking my best guess? I’d say it’s probably Harkon's people. There’s enough necromancers among his ranks that he could raise the army, and taking the city wouldn’t be all that much trouble if his spawn are half as strong as you.”  
Serana shakes her head. “Most of them aren’t. The last time I saw them, the only ones who could pose a threat to my mother and I were Harkon’s inner court. All of whom were turned by him. Vampiric blood dilutes very quickly the closer you are to pure-blooded. Most of the wild vampires in Skyrim are likely a thousand generations removed from a Daughter of Coldharbour, which is why mortals are able to dispatch them easily.”  
Huh, interesting.  
“Nice as that is to know, how likely do you think it is that Harkon had a hand in this? If we need to start prepping for him, I’d rather know now.” I say to bring the conversation back on topic.  
Serana looks down at the table and grabs her chin to think. “It doesn't fit with his usual methods, nor his wants. The only time he cared enough about mortals to get involved with them was only a century after my mother turned him. He created an empire to assert his superiority over them, but grew bored of their politics after only a few decades. Since then, he hasn’t cared enough to take a mortal city. It would draw attention that would annoy him. I can’t see him doing this. Are you sure there’s no one else?” She looks back up at me.  
I lean back in my chair and look at the ceiling as I think. That’s all the necromancy dungeons right? I mean, I’m probably missing one or two minor ones, but those are all the ones with named quests attached to them.  
I pull up a mental map of the province and look to the east.  
“Morthal is the most likely target of this right?” I ask Serana.  
“Given the direction they come from, I would say yes.”  
I shrug. “Could be Movarth.”  
Serana tilts her head. “Movarth?”  
I meet her eyes. “Couple century old vampire from Cyrodiil. He started out as a vampire hunter, but got turned by his informant. For the last few decades he’s been trying to take over Morthal. I don’t know why he wants the city, but it could be his people that attacked it.”  
Serana hums. “It is possible, but if he is that young he will not have the necromantic gifts of Harkon’s spawn. His blood will have been greatly diluted.”  
I shrug. “Maybe he turned a bunch of necromancers, I don’t know. If you’re able to get more information, let me know, but until then this is all just guess work.” I stand up. “If that’s everything I’m going to go train.”  
Serana nods and stands. “Yes thank you that is all. Ensure your training is productive.”  
I leave the room and head to my broom closet.  
Mr. Rogers appears at my side with his katana in his mouth and growls playfully.  
Time to grind.

  
Level up! x8   
Gain +80 Stat Points!

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 170  
Class- Saber - LVL 71/100 [12%]  
Crafting Class- N/A [0%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 12160 [2432 per minute]  
MP- 15520 [3104 per minute]  
SP- 12160 [2432 per minute]  
STR- 604  
END- 608  
DEX - 452  
INT - 776  
WIS - 776  
CHA - 380  
LUK - 384  
MP Regen= WIS x 4  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 4  
SP/HP= END x 20

For reaching 600 STR you have gained a perk!  
Feisty Cuffs  
All unarmed damage you do is twice as strong  
(Stacks with hard hitting)

For reaching 600 END you have gained a perk!  
Adaptive  
The more you take a certain type of damage, the less it damages you  
(Caps at 30% resistance)

Well that perk really promotes masochism. Then again, I’m alright with that given how powerful it is.  
I exit the ID with Mr. Rogers at my side.  
It feels like it’s been around six hours, so I should probably head up the mountain. Svar wanted to spar after all.  
I begin my trek up the various staircases while Mr. Rogers trots off to wherever it is he’s going.  
I emerge out into the open air and take a look around. I’m pretty high up the mountain now, so I can see pretty far in pretty much every direction. It’s overcast, and the sun is getting low, but it doesn’t make it too difficult to see. The only major obstacles blocking my vision are other mountains. I also notice a distinct lack of Svar and Paarthurnax in the area around me.  
Tapping into my soul sense, I begin feeling around for souls. I get a sense of something very old, and very powerful high above me. I look up between the clouds and see Paarthurnax flying so high, his entire body is about the size of my hand. There’s a tiny black dot circling around him that I assume to be Svar.   
The two fly around, through and around the clouds as they maneuver.  
I let out a sigh.  
Guess I’m waiting.  
I take a seat and let my mind wander to the various things I have to prepare for.  
The most pressing issue right now is obviously the dragons. The many battles we’ve had with them so far have proven them beatable, but they’re still insanely tough. Cities without powerful mages in them are pretty much defenseless. That’s probably why Windhelm fell so easily. The court wizard wasn’t all that impressive in the game, and I’m willing to bet Ulfric wasn’t there yet. It took me and Svar quite a bit to make it to Whiterun, and we had supplies from Gerdur. Ulfric had to go farther, without any support or supplies.   
I wonder what his reaction was to seeing the place burned down when he finally got back?  
I smile as I imagine the asshole with wide eyes and a gaping jaw.  
Getting back on topic, of all the major cities, I’d wager that Solitude is probably the safest from the dragons. It has the Imperial Legion headquarters as well as its own guards. The legion probably brought some decent mages with them, and Solitude’s court wizard is a vampire if I remember correctly. I guess Solitude would be the place to go if we need to purchase something for whatever reason. We can just hide behind the guards, and let them take care of everything.  
Not exactly brave, but I don’t pretend I’m Achilles. I’m not in this to save the world. I’m in this to not get dead, and get stronger along the way.  
Next major threat would probably be Harkon, but with Serana’s assurance that Morthal doesn’t fit his MO, I’m not too worried about him at the moment. I have one of the scrolls he needs for the prophecy in my inventory, and I purposefully left Auriel’s Bow’s location out of the explanation I gave to Serana. He is effectively neutralized for the moment, and he probably doesn’t even know Serana is awake yet. He can wait until later.  
When he does start moving though, he’ll be after Serana almost immediately. Once the Hall of the Vigilant falls, he’ll send that Lovir guy to check her tomb.   
That’s not his name is it? Lohim? Loki? I don’t care.  
Point is, he’ll figure out pretty quick that his daughter is already up and about. Which will probably send him into a rage, because he’s an arrogant control freak. So we’ll have his best trackers on us before too long.   
I guess I should probably look into some ways to defeat vampires. There’s probably something in the library, it’s just a matter of finding it. Or I could just ask Serana, but that would be more than a little suspicious.  
‘Hey Serana! I want to know every weakness vampires have and how best to kill them! I won’t attack you though! Promise!’  
Thinking about it, it would be worse if I didn’t tell her about it, and she found signs of my research in the library. That’s guaranteed to piss her off.  
I’m overthinking this too much. I’ll worry about the vampires when the vampires need to be worried about.  
Moving on, thirdly, and the one I currently have the least information about, is Miraak. As far as I’m aware, he is still stuck under the elder god cosplayer’s thumb. I’m going to be hesitantly optimistic about him until I hear any bad news from Solstheim. I don’t expect him to send Cultists here like in the game, but then again, religious fanatics are fucking crazy. They might show up anyway.   
Will they be that much of a threat though? In the game they were only hard to fight if you didn’t have a good way to combat mages. Here, they should be relatively easy to take down, but I could be underestimating them…  
Great, now I’m overthinking everything.  
New plan, I’m going to assume the vampires are not active until proven otherwise, and the cultists are still building shrines to Miraak in their bedrooms. I’ll focus on the dragons until I learn of anything else that needs my immediate attention.  
Speaking of dragons…  
Paarthurnax’s large form swoops down and lands a fair distance from me. I look up and see Svar slowly drifting down as well.  
I stand and go to meet her when she lands. Her cloak begins to knit itself back together.  
“You know,” I begin. “This place is supposed to be secret. Having a massive dragon constantly flying around is going to make people ask questions.”  
Svar snorts as she stretches her muscles. “There haven’t been all that many people around, and those that have been can’t see us. The thu’um can make some decent illusions if you know what you’re doing. Which Paarthurnax certainly does.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “I take it you’re getting along then?”  
Svar smiles and looks over her shoulder at her teacher. “I suppose so, but I’ve got to be careful around him. He can really chew my ear off.” She turns back to me with a grin.  
I just stare at her. “Really?”  
“Geh. She has been making the same joke for days now.” Paarthurnax speaks up from a rock he lounges on. “Nothing I have tried has been able to stall her sense of humor.”  
Svar just cackles as she focuses back on me. “So, you ready to get your ass kicked?” She says with a hungry grin.  
I make some over exaggerated stretches and say, “I guess I’ve got some time, so how are we doing this? Anything goes? Or are there special rules I need to know?”  
Paarthurnax hmm’s. “So long as you do not permanently harm one-another, use every avenue of nos available to you. I will step in if things get out of hand. I will also cover your krif in illusions so as to keep your home’s location secret.”  
I nod to him and turn back to face Svar. “Ready when you are.”  
She grins, and her cloak begins to split itself down the middle. Her body starts to change the way I’ve come to associate with her metal form, but this time it’s different. Instead of a solid silver plate color, she starts to turn midnight black. Her skin turns into a pattern of overlapped, black oval shapes. The pattern extends out over her cloak as well, changing her cloth wings into ones closely resembling those of the dragon behind her.  
Holy shit, she’s got scales.  
She grins at me with sharper teeth. “What do you think?” She asks, her voice deeper than normal. “It took a while to figure this out, but I think it’s worth it don’t you?”   
I let my eyes roam over her form. “You look badass.”  
She pouts at me and her shoulders droop slightly. “Just badass?”  
I raise an eyebrow at her display. “I’m not going to lie and say I don’t find you hot as hell, but I was keeping that to myself because we’re not exactly alone.” I nudge my head in Paarthurnax’s direction.  
Svar perks back up and waves me off. “Don’t worry. Paarthurnax doesn’t mind. We’ve already talked about the whole thing.”  
“Geh.” The deep voice says from behind her. “I am too old to be made uncomfortable by mortal’s displaying affection towards each other.”  
I look at him for a moment.  
Eh, I guess it makes sense.  
I shrug and turn back to Svar. “In that case, I find you very attractive, and almost regret the fact I have to beat the shit out of you now.”  
Svar leans forward and grins wide. “Try.” With that, she leaps from the ground and takes to the sky, climbing higher and higher.  
Looking up at her, I smile and shift into my lightning form. Bringing my own wings into existence in the process. I activate Godspeed as well, and feel the comforting rush of energy it provides me.  
Svar comes to a stop high in the sky and looks challengingly down at me.  
Sadly for her, I don’t plan on playing fair.  
I teleport to right above her and send a massive bolt directly into her back.  
She gasps, having not expected an attack from that angle, and falls a good twenty feet before catching herself and turning to look up at me.  
“Tag.” I say down to her. “You’re it.”  
She looks up at me and a predatory grin takes over her features.  
“HORVUTAH!!” She shouts.  
Not knowing what that word means, I try to dodge, but every part of me refuses to move. That should be all but impossible, I’m made of fricking energy right now.  
Svar lazily drifts up and rests her hand against my unmoving electrical face. “You’re it.” She flies off and I’m free to move again.  
I start after her at a cautious pace as she begins laughing once more. “RONAAZ!!” She shouts, and a forest green ethereal bow and quiver appear around her. She rolls over in mid air and begins firing her arrows at me.  
That’s a neat trick.  
I experimentally let one hit my arm to see if the arrows will pass through my lightning form.

-150HP

That answers that question. I move at Godspeed enhanced speeds to avoid every other shot she sends my way.  
I put some distance between us, and stop to look around.  
Seeing the large gathering of dark grey clouds, I get an idea. I wouldn’t normally do this, because of the whole ‘secret base’ bit, but since Paarthurnax said he’s got us covered....  
I stay still as I focus my magic, and Svar shoots one more arrow before staring at me confused.  
I smile at her as the sky begins to rumble.  
Comprehension shows on her face, and she immediately begins to dive back down towards the mountain.   
I let out my own laugh as the darkened sky lights up electric blue. I use my magic to summon lightning from the sky to hary Svar. A massive electrical storm comes into existence in the area. Every single bolt fired from it homes in on Svar, but she’s able to dodge quite effectively.  
Svar’s actually managed to dodge quite a few of the bolts, surprising me. Must be a combat awareness of some sort if she can dodge away from lightning. It doesn’t last though, as the fifth bolt connects with her back.  
She lets out a grunt as she’s forced downward. She rolls so she is falling backwards and begins firing arrows at me even as she falls.  
I swerve to dodge, and begin to follow after her, still raining bolts down towards her.  
She rolls to avoid my strikes, and keeps sending arrow after arrow at me.  
She stops firing arrows, and pours even more speed into her descent. When she’s moments from hitting the ground, she lets out a loud yell.  
“FEIM!!” Her scaled body becomes that of a ghost. Where typically everything she holds or carries becomes ethereal with her, her spectral bow stays as it is. She finds her footing on the ground, and starts shooting arrows at me once more.  
She figured out a way to attack while she’s effectively invulnerable. That’s pretty fucking baddass.   
Unluckily for her, I’ve been working on magic that doesn’t attack you physically.  
Confident in my new magic after practicing for nearly a month, I shape a bolt of violet energy with my hands, and send it down amongst the lighting.  
She doesn’t move, expecting it to pass through her as the lightning does. Insted, when it connects her ghostly body locks up.  
I land in front of her and smile. “You’re not the only one with new tricks.”  
I use my lightning magic to form an electric replica of Yamato and wait for her ethereal form to time out.  
It does, and I release her from my spell.  
She stares across at me as she pulls Ascalon from its sheath. “Soul magic?”  
“Yep. Turns out it’s a lot more varied than you’d expect. I guess it makes sense though. I mean, if you can control the thing that controls someone’s body, why can’t you control the body itself?” I brandish my lightning sword. “You ready?”  
She charges in lieu of an answer. She’s gotten faster, and stronger, but I easily deflect her attacks.  
I’ve gained two new sword styles since she last saw me fight, I’m taking her apart without even attacking.  
She pulls back and creates some distance to catch her breath. “When the hell did you get this good?”  
I shrug. “You were working on the thu’um, I worked on soul magic and swordplay. It makes sense that I’d leave you behind.”  
I give her a playful smile, then disappear from her view. Moving at speeds her eyes are hard pressed to track.  
Her eyes widen as she begins to look around. “KORAAV!!” She ducks the second the word leaves her mouth, barely dodging a strike coming at her from behind.  
I exit Godspeed and stop in front of her. “We’ve never really fought each other before,so you’ve never realized how annoying it is to deal with my speed. I wonder how long you can keep up?”  
A long groan emanates from behind me. “I understand this is no true krif, but you two are speaking too much. This is not the time for tiinvak.”  
“Shut up Paarthurnax!” Svar yells without looking away from me.  
I shrug. “He’s got a point. Get ready.” I reactivate Godspeed and charge around her.  
“PRODAH!!!” Svar yells.  
Every time I come in for an attack, she’s already moving to block it. Combat prediction is a bitch. She can’t hope to match my speed, so she’s moving before I start to. Guess I just have to do something that prediction won’t help with.  
I come to a stop about ten feet from her and gather my magic.  
Her eyes widen and she tries to dodge, but the attack I desgined needs more than a little warning to flee from..  
From the sky, dozens of violet lightning bolts begin to blanket the entire area.  
Sweat covers Svar’s forehead as she tries to predict the path of every bolt charging towards her, but it’s obvious her prediction is overloaded. She knows she can’t use Become Ethereal, because I’ve enhanced the bolts with soul magic. She has to dodge every one or she’ll get frozen up again.  
Seeing my chance, I Godspeed in and use Jigen-ryu to prepare a major strike.  
Svar tries to dodge out of the way, but after dancing in and out of the bolts, she is too tired.  
My blade connects with her stomach, and she is sent flying into a nearby boulder. The impact cracks the stone, and leaves Svar’s scaled form in a heap on the ground.  
I walk up to her, and see her trying to get to her feet.  
Guess I still haven’t won.  
I Godspeed the rest of the way with a Chidori on my hand. I grab her by the neck with my other hand, and bring the Chidori in front of her face.  
“Stab.” I say.  
Svar struggles for a moment, but ultimately relaxes. “You’re going down next time.”  
The corner of my lip pulls up, and I let the Chidori fade. “Doubt it.” I hold my hand out to her and help her up.  
Her scales fade away and her cloak knits itself back together. She begins healing herself, and I pitch in.  
A loud humming draws both of our attention. “You are improving quickly Dovahkiin, but you must be more creative in how you strike. The kro defeated you because of his unexpected attacks, and ability to adapt to your own methods. Mindol on this revelation for your next battle.”  
Svar gives the dragon a quick bow. “I will.”  
Paarthurnax turns to me. “You were creative, but you must vosaraan your attacks. Use your speed more effectively, and you will end the battle before your opponent is able to retaliate.”  
I nod towards him. “Thanks for the pointers.”  
The dragon nods back. “Well done both of you, but vulon is growing closer. Retire to rest. I will do the same.”  
With that, the dragon takes to the sky, and begins to fly the rest of the way up the mountain.  
Svar throws an arm around my waist and leads me back into the temple. “Let’s go to sleep.” She says.  
I enjoy the company as we walk back through the halls towards our room.  
“Ah, good. I was looking for you.”  
I sigh.  
Can I just go to sleep please?  
“What’s up Serana?” I ask.  
“You wished to know if I learned anything about the situation in Morthal. I have discovered something.” She answers and motions for us to follow her.  
Svar looks up at me with a raised eyebrow as we follow after Serana. “What happened in Morthal?”  
I shrug. “Don’t have all the details, but apparently there was an undead attack somewhere in the general area. Serana’s not sure whether it was in the city proper or not.”  
Svar’s eyebrows scrunch together. “How does she know it happened at all?”  
“I didn’t know if it was in the city proper or not. I have learned the truth since we spoke earlier today, and I am aware of the situation because I am using small undead animals as scouts to ensure our safe haven remains secret.” The vampiress responds as we all enter the mess hall we eat meals in.  
We all take a seat around a small round table.  
Please don’t be Harkon.  
“What’d you figure out?” I ask.  
She turns to face me. “I have confirmed that the city was not only attacked, but taken, and there were several vampires present. However, none were strong enough to have been sired by Harkon.”  
Svar’s eyes widen. “You’re saying a group of vampires took an entire city? And they weren’t the ones we expected to do so? Great. The dragons weren’t enough excitement apparently. What are the chances they move this way and cause us problems?”  
Serana hums. “From what I have seen, the odds of them causing us trouble are minimal to non-existent. The vampires are very disciplined, and seem to be following someone’s orders to not leave the city. The only reason I have seen undead on the roads is because they were sent on their own.”  
I lean against the table. “So this is probably Movarth then? Did you see any necromancers in the city?”  
Serana places a hand on her chin and thinks. “There were quite a few necromancers, and the evidence does suggest that your Movarth is the leader.”  
Svar looks between us. “Ok, that’s great and all, we know there’s a guy named Movarth who has Morthal, but why do we care? Unless he’s trying to destroy the world, I couldn’t care less. So long as his actions don’t screw with us, I’m fine with leaving him be.”  
I nod at her. “I’m of the same mind, but it’s better to gather information on him, and be ready if he does attack us, then to be unprepared when he does.”  
Svar shrugs. “I get it. I just don’t want to get involved in things that aren’t our problem.”  
Serana studies Svar. “That is not the attitude the fated savior of Nirn should have Svarline.”  
Svar raises an eyebrow at the vampiress. “What’s Nirn ever done for me? Why the hell should I get myself killed fighting other people’s battles for them? I’ll probably go after Alduin eventually, but that’s just because she’ll come to me if I don’t. If Miraak and your sperm donor don’t fuck with me, I’ll leave them alone.”  
Serana hums. “Good. You and Dusk both have an attitude that will not only keep you alive, but make you strong. I think the three of us could grow to be wonderful friends.”  
I deadpan stare at her. “So long as you don’t go tearing our throats out anyway.”  
She bares her fangs at me in a smile. “But that’s an important part of our relationship’s development!”  
Svar growls. “What did she do?”  
I wave her off. “It’s handled. Just keep an eye on her, her mood changes with the breeze.”  
Serana feigns hurt. “You are very harsh Dusk! I merely wanted to see what you would do if I placed you in a compromising position. I had already tested Svarline, and while she was inexperienced at the time, she handled herself admirably.”  
I narrow my eyes at the vampiress. “When exactly did you ‘test’ Svar?”  
She hums. “Before we left my prison for our journey here. Do not worry yourself Dusk, had I been unimpressed with her, I would have killed her.” She says matter of factly. “She has grown much even in the brief time we have spent here, and while Paarthurnax is assuredly a great teacher, Svarline had already become able to control herself. She still has much ground to cover before she truly masters her nature, but she is making impressive progress.”  
I don’t look away. “I can’t help but realize you glossed over the fact that you would have killed her. Do we still need to watch out for that? Or in your infinite wisdom have you judged us worthy of continuing to persist in your presence?”  
Serana chuckles. “I already told you Dusk. I find the both of you interesting. I will not act against you unless you do something I simply cannot tolerate, which I feel is highly unlikely. If I partake of your blood, it will be for reasons other than killing you.” She says calmly.  
Svar slowly stands, and glares at the vampiress. “He’s mine. Keep your fangs and claws to yourself bitch.”  
Serana leans back in her chair and looks to the ceiling, unperturbed by Svar’s display. “You can rest easy, Svarline. I do not seek to steal your mate. I just find him interesting, a quality I find in yourself as well.” She meets Svar’s eyes as she finishes.  
They’re doing the posturing thing again aren’t they?  
Svar nods sharply. “Good. If you don’t care about him, then you’ll have no problem leaving him to me.”  
Yep, they’re doing the posturing thing again.  
Serana tilts her head as she studies Svar. “As I said Svarline, you have no reason to worry. I will not steal away your mate. However, I might be interested in sharing.”  
Svar’s eyes narrow and she growls. “Dusk. Is. Mine.”  
And Serana’s prodding around with her bear poking stick again. Fucking fantastic.  
I sigh. “She’s playing mind games again Svar. Trying to see what buttons she can poke to set off your dragon side. Just ignore her.”  
Serana looks with a straight face. “I am being quite serious Dusk. If in time the two of you continue to interest me, I would not be opposed to sharing both of you.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Sorry, but gotta say no. That’s not really fair to Svar.”  
Svar grins at Serana. “Welp, looks like he’s not interested. I’m sure you’ll find someone else Serana, there’s plenty of fish in the sea after all.”  
Serana throws her head back and sighs. “The two of you are laughably inexperienced in these matters aren’t you? Very well, if I must be blunt, I will be blunt.” She stands, and walks around the table to Svar.  
I get ready to activate Godspeed. The last time she played games I ended up inside a wall, and I’m not willing to get caught off guard like that again.  
Svar doesn’t back down as Serana comes to a stop a pace away from her. “What is this supposed to mean?” Svar asks her.  
Serana reaches her arms out and pulls Svar forward.  
I activate Godspeed and move to defend her. I stop upon seeing something that I would never have even thought could happen.  
It seems I’ve been caught off guard again.  
Serana has pressed herself up against a wide eyed Svarline and is making out with her.  
What?  
Serana pulls away, and walks towards me.  
Svar and I are still trying to wrap our heads around what the fuck just happened when I feel a pair of lips press against mine.  
Holy shit Serana is a good kisser.  
She pulls back and steps a few paces away.  
“Now that I have clarified my statement, I would like to make a few other things clear.” Serana speaks while Svar and I are too stunned to move. “By a vampire’s metric, it has not been very long at all since I awoke from my forced sleep. I thank you both for freeing me, and for aiding me in the liberation of my mother, but I am currently not interested in any serious romantic entanglements. If, when I have adjusted to this new time and place, I am still interested in you both, and you are not opposed to the arrangement, I would be open to trying it.” She pauses for a moment as she looks between us. “Now, I’m sure you have much to think about, so I will allow you to rest as I continue my work on the portal. Goodnight Svarline, Dusk.”  
She glides from the room without another word.  
What in the literal fuck just happened?  
“What in the literal fuck just happened?” Svar asks.  
Oh good. It’s not just me.  
“I don’t have a fucking clue.” I say back to her.  
Svar violently shakes her head to get herself back under control. “I vote we go to sleep and forget this happened until morning for the sake of our sanity.”  
I nod. Even with Gamer’s Mind I’m having trouble processing this.  
“Agreed.” I say.  
The two of us walk back to our room, and collapse into the bed.  
“Goodnight Svar.”  
“Goodnight Dusk.”

(Interlude: The Crone)

I hope they kill me.  
That’s the only thing I can bring myself to think as I’m led by heavily armed guards to where I will meet with the Jarls.  
They really pulled out all the stops to deal with me. The guards all carry weapons infused with silver, and their armor is also lined with it. At least one of them is a devout worshipper of one of the divines. I can sense them, but given how close together we’re all standing, it’s impossible to tell who it is.  
Good. If I’m forced to attack them, I want to lose.  
I’m brought to a large room in the Blue Palace. Sitting against the far wall, are all of the Jarls with the exception of the weasel.  
And myself I guess.  
It’s quite a sight seeing Ulfric sat at Elisif’s side. Never would’ve thought that could work, even if they had a thousand years to get over their bickering.  
Standing between the Jarls and myself is a small advance force worth of guards. Standing behind them, are a number of wizards, some of whom I recognize from my dealings with the College.  
I catch a strange scent, and turn to my right. Standing with Archmage Savos Aren, is Harbinger Kodlak Whitemane of the Companions. He smells like a wolf.  
“Idgrod.” A voice pulls me from my thoughts. “I wish I could say you are welcome within these walls, but under the current circumstances, I would ask you to say what you came to say and leave.” Elisif says with iron in her voice.  
She’s grown a lot. Good, she might realize the threat I pose and end me.  
“That is no longer my name.” The compulsion Bitch put on me forces me to say. “I am the Crone now. I have no words, only a letter written by my Lady.”   
I pull the letter from my robe as quickly as possible. The warriors all tense, but not one of them strikes me.   
I am forced to internalize my frustration at their restraint while one of them steps forward to snatch the paper from my hand.  
“Who is ‘your Lady’?” Ulfric speaks up.  
I turn to him. “The letter explains all.” I reply. Because of course Bitch doesn’t want me talking about her.  
“Archmage.” Korir speaks up quickly. “Would you please ensure there are no magical traps within that parchment?”  
Savos nods with a smile and calmly walks forward. He takes the letter from the guard, and casts a few spells.  
He turns to Korir. “If there are any malicious enchantments, they are beyond my ability to detect.”  
In other words, if they exist, they’re fucked anyway. Great.  
Elisif stands and walks forward to take the paper from the wizard.  
She tears it open and quickly reads through it. Her features grow more and more distraught the further she reads.  
The room waits in tense silence for her to speak.  
Once finished, Elisif looks up at me with pity in her eyes. “I am so sorry my old friend.”  
If you’re sorry then fucking kill me girl!  
“What do you mean? What does it say?” Laila practically screams.  
Elisif ignores her, instead turning to Savos. “This stone,” She holds up a glowing turquoise rock.  
Huh, so that’s why there was a bulge in the letter.  
“I need you to identify it.” Elisif finishes.  
“What was in the letter?” Ulfric says, now on his feet.  
She turns to the Jarls. “I will not spread unnecessary panic until it’s accuracy is verified.” She turns back to Savos and holds out the stone.  
“That bad huh?” Skald says in a defeated tone as he leans back in his chair.  
Savos takes the rock, and casts the same spells from before.  
Huh, never seen a dark elf pale before. That’s actually a pretty interesting sight.  
“Mirabelle.” Savos says with gravity. “I need a second opinion.”  
The woman walks forward and takes the stone from him. She too casts several spells and goes pale.  
“How?!” The female wizard yells as she turns to me. “How is she back?”  
“The letter explains all.” I’m forced to say.  
Igmund stands. “Will someone please enlighten the rest of the room as to the gravity of the situation?!?!”  
Savos goes to speak, but Elisif cuts him off.  
“No. All guards are to leave immediately. I will not have this information spread before we devise a strategy for dealing with it.” She says coldly.  
“Are you mad?!?” Igmund cries. “The traitor is a vampire. She’ll attempt to kill us if we are undefended!”  
Elisif shakes her head. “Idgrod will not attack us, and if she does, we will have the Harbinger of the Companions, the Archmage of the College, my court wizard, and Jarl Ulfric to defeat her. Any newly turned vampire would be hard pressed to defeat two of those opponents, let alone all of them. All. Guards. Leave.” She orders.  
“Do as she says.” The calm voice of Ulfric Stormcloak calls out to the assembled warriors.  
When in Oblivion did these two start working together?  
My best chance at assisted suicide slowly files out of the room, until only the Jarls, the representatives from the Companions and College, and Elisif’s court wizard remain.  
My eyes catch on the last one, who is intently focused on me. The court wizard is a vampire. I didn’t notice before, because she was in the back, but I can see her now.  
“There. Our guards are gone, now tell us what was in that Oblivion damned letter!” Igmund yells out.  
Elisif turns to face the Jarls. “The Wolf Queen Potema has returned from the dead, and controls an army of vampires, and various other forms of undead.”  
There is nothing but silence for a long while.  
“How certain of this are we?” Ulfric asks her.  
Elisif turns to the Archmage.  
Savos meets her gaze. “There is no way this stone was faked. Each mage’s magic can have a unique signature if the mage is strong enough. She was practically screaming at us that this is her. She wants us to know that not only is she back, but she has already taken Morthal.”  
“What happened to Idgrod?” Laila asks looking at me. We were good friends once.  
Elisif shakes her head. “The letter says, ‘she is under my full control, but her mind is still her own. She will tear your throat out without hesitation, but she will scream and rage at herself to stop even as she does so. Isn’t that beautiful?’ We need to find a way to free her.”  
No, you need to kill me girl! I’ve lived long enough already, kill me before she orders me to kill you all!  
“You can’t free her.” Elisif’s court wizard says from her position.  
Elisif’s head snaps to her. “Why not?”  
“She has been blood bound. I don’t know how Potema was able to accomplish the feat, or even where she was able to learn of it. I only know about it because I found an ancient tome written by an even more ancient vampire. The only way to free the Jarl is to kill her.”  
Yes! Someone talking sense!  
“What is a blood bond?” Kodlak asks her.  
She turns to face him. “Something I did not truly believe to exist, but it is apparent to me that is what has been done to her. It takes an extremely powerful vampiric sire to achieve. If Potema was her sire, then the power requirement was most likely met. It binds the sired to the Sire’s will for all time. So long as they both have blood, she will never be free.”  
“How do you know of this? Where is this ‘tome’ you speak of?” Skald asks her coldly.  
“I believe her.” Kodlak says to the man while he and the court wizard share a knowing look. “I would appreciate it if we could move on to how we will react to this news.”  
“We need to know how Potema acquired an army of vampires in the first place.” Ulfric says. “We have determined they are all old, so either she has been back for quite some time, or the vampires have been lying in wait for her.”  
“What vampire would be old enough to be waiting for her? We have hunted them all down at great cost.” Laila says somberly.  
They don’t know about Movarth. Of course they don’t know about Movarth! I didn’t know about Movarth, and he was practically in my backyard!  
I try to say his name, but Bitch is stopping me somehow. Can she see through me? No, the other vampire would have already killed me if that was the case. It must be something else.  
I need to tell them about Movarth.  
I get an idea and quickly say, “Immortal Bloo…” interrupting whatever Igmund was saying.  
My voice forcefully cut itself off before I could finish speaking. I try to speak up again, but the same restriction on Movarth’s name has been placed on the book.  
“What did she just say?” Mirabelle asks.  
Elisif turns to me. “Can you repeat that Idgrod?”  
I stare straight ahead and don’t move.  
“She said, ‘Immortal Bloo’ and is now unable to speak. I would wager that whatever that means, it is of great import.” Kodlak speaks up.  
The court wizard looks at me. “Immortal Blood. It is a book about Movarth Piquine, a vampire hunter turned vampire. It is believed he was killed years ago, but if he was able to fake his death, it would explain Potema’s vampiric soldiers.”  
Elisif’s eyes light up as she turns to me. “Is there anything else you can tell us Idgrod? Anything at all?”  
Before I can even think about answering, I feel Bitch’s control take hold, and fight to keep my mouth closed. It does no good.  
“My Lady calls me back to her side. I must be going now. Will I be given an escort or shall I show myself out?” I say.  
Elisif’s face falls, but hardens quickly. “Sybille? Please show her out, and ensure she doesn’t go anywhere she shouldn’t.”  
The vampiric wizard nods and begins forward and motions for me to follow her.  
She leads me out of the palace, and back through the streets. Townspeople flee from my sight, and guards tense as I pass.  
It hurts to see them react to me this way, but I can understand. I’m not Idgrod anymore. Bitch turned me into The Crone.  
Before too long, we come to the gates. The large palisade is pulled up so I may walk through.  
“Best of luck Idgrod.” The court wizard says genuinely. “But be warned, should I face The Crone in battle, I will hold nothing back.”  
You should just kill me now you stupid wizard.  
My body moves on it’s own as I start under the gate. My arm brushes up against the wall and….

I drop the drained child onto the ground and continue walking forward.   
Warriors and mages throw themselves at me, they do everything they can to stop me, but it’s not enough. I open my mouth wide and let out joyous laughter as I tear them all to pieces.  
They thought they could defeat me? I am The Crone. I have only one equal.  
I wade through the bodies around me, ripping them apart with my claws, with my teeth, with my hemomancy, with each other.  
I make my way towards the keep, my love is surely waiting for me.  
As I continue on my way, slaughtering every defender in my path, I see a large shape flying over the city and allow myself a grin.  
The dracolich was definitely worth the effort. It is beautiful.  
Finally at the keep, I throw a fist forward and break in through the wall.   
It’s pathetic I once thought these places safe.  
Even more faceless blood bags throw themselves into my path, and are torn apart for their effort.  
I calmly make my way up the stairs, and hear a defiant voice speak out.  
“You haven’t won. All of Tamriel will come for you now!” A woman’s voice speaks with iron.  
“I know! Isn’t it wonderful? Soon, the entire world will belong to two people! Shame you won’t be around to see it.” My love proclaims, bringing another blood stained smile to my face.  
I hear a growl as I move closer.  
“You’re insane! I hope Molag Bal obliterates your soul bitch!” The same woman snarls.  
I let out my own snarl in response and use my vampiric speed to appear in front of the woman in the blink of an eye.  
I grasp her throat in my hand and lift her up.  
She lets out a low moan of protest, but she is far too weak to resist.  
I lean in close to her. “Only I can call her that.” I growl.  
I form a fist and completely collapse her throat, crushing bone and flesh as easily as if it were paper.  
The corpse falls away in two pieces, everything from the neck down falling with a wet thud, and the head falling with a *plunk* before it rolls away.  
I hear an affectionate sigh from behind me, and feel two arms wrap themselves around my stomach.  
“You are too protective of me Crone. I can take care of myself you know?” My love says as she rests her head on my shoulder.  
I spin around in her arms and pull her close. “Without me watching after you, you’re likely to be killed a second time. That is something I will not allow. You. Are. Mine.”  
She chuckles and rests her forehead against mine. “I am yours.” She says. Her eyes shine with a rarely seen intensity. “And you, You. Are. Mine.”  
I smile. “I am yours, Bitch.”  
She smiles hungrily and pulls me in for a long kiss.  
This is what I was born for, covered in gore, standing amongst the ruins of a city filled with corpses, with my bloodsoaked lover in my arms.  
This is perfect.

I stumble as the vision abruptly ends.  
Even under Bitch’s control, that was enough to physically move me.  
I have never had a vision that vivid.   
I feel a steely resolve worm it’s way into my stomach.  
I will not become her Crone. I will not let that vision come to pass.  
I am not The Crone.  
I am Idgrod Ravencrone, and I will kill Potema.

(Interlude: Sam Guevenne)

I scratch my head as a small fish swims by over my shoulder.  
I’ve looked everywhere, but I Just. Can’t. Find it.  
“Are you sure it’s down here Sheo? It seems a little too convenient.” I gurgle towards my friend.  
He offers me a manic smile. “That’s the thing about madness Sammy Boyo! EVERYTHING ALWAYS WORKS OUT!!!! Unless it doesn’t of course, but if you don’t think about it, that won’t happen!” His words undistorted by the water around us.  
I shrug. I can’t fault his logic, so there must be wisdom in what he says.  
I continue walking around the ocean floor as I search for the item that will win me this match.   
It’s not that I would despise losing to my friend, but the bragging rights! Those are what make parties so glorious! If he beats me, then he gets the bragging rights. Debauchery is my pastime, not my friend’s.  
As such, I must endeavor to always be the center of the party. Thus, I must win the bragging rights.  
A manically gleeful laugh draws my attention back to my friend.  
“Look Sammy! LOOK! I found a Dinglehopper!!” He proudly presents a small fork for me to study.  
“Hmm. Yes I suppose you have. Does that count for anything? I seem to have forgotten our scoring system.”  
He bobs his head up and down, causing bubbles to rise from his beard. “Yeperoonie!! It counts at negative twelve-thousand-four-hundred-seventy-two.”  
I sigh. “I guess that means the only way for me to win now is to find the big one.”  
Things are looking quite poor for my chances.  
My friend continues to nod enthusiastically. “Yep Yep Yep Yep YEP!!! I’m gonna win Sammy! And then I’ll lose the winning!!!!”  
I harden my resolve. “I’m not out of this yet Sheo. I will not lose.”  
I double my efforts as I continue across the ocean floor. Intently scanning for a singular item.  
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a flash of green. I snap my head in that direction, and lunge out to grab it.  
I let out a cheerful laugh.  
“I’ve done it!” I call out to my friend.  
He appears from nowhere at my side and scratches his chin as he verifies my findings.  
“Well fiddlesticks!!! Nice job Sammy!!!”  
I smile as I gently caress the beautiful seaweed that has won me the game. “It’s a miracle we were able to find any down here.”  
My friend nods sagely. “Yes, very fortunate. Who puts seaweed in the sea? The absolute sanity.” He says with disgust.  
I nod once more and turn to face him. “It’s all tied up again at 289 to 289. What’s our next game?” I ask with thinly veiled excitement.  
“Canter Loping!!! Follow me!!!” He begins running straight upwards and I follow him.  
A thought occurs to me and I turn my head to look at my friend while we run. “Don’t you have to go look for the yous soon? Do you have time for another game?”  
My friend stops running, but keeps pace with me as he stands there. “We’ve got plenty of time!!! Besides, this is the most fun I’ve never had!!!”  
I smile at my friend. “I must admit Sheo, I’m having a ball!”  
The two of us laugh together as we continue to rise.  
Coming to the mortal realm was the greatest idea I’ve had in centuries! To think, having fun with other Princes required leaving Oblivion!   
Truly, only a madman would think of it.  
The two of us continue running and standing to the surface, excited for our next game.


	14. 14

Our schedule was pretty much the same for the next couple of days. Svar and I would spar when we both had a moment, with Paarthurnax giving us pointers to improve after the fight, and Serana and I would continue our work on the portal.  
Serana…  
Turns out she’s bi, which in retrospect kind of makes sense. In the game, the only thing stopping her from marrying the dragonborn was her temple hang up, regardless of your gender. Then again, that could have just been a convenient excuse to stop talking about it. She’s not quite as assertive in the game after all.  
Either way, this Serana is bisexual. Svar and I talked about what happened, and our conclusion was twofold. Either Serana is just fucking with us again, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility, or she’s genuinely interested.  
I don’t know which one it is, and frankly it doesn’t matter. Svar gets insanely uncomfortable whenever the topic is brought up, leading me to believe she wants Serana as far away from us as possible. There’s also the fact that I’m not too keen on trusting the vampiress for a variety of reasons.  
Serana herself has been as mature as you’d expect a thousand year old immortal to be about the situation. In other words, she’s left us alone, and is professional in her dealings with us. When she’s not fucking with us that is.  
Bottom line, nothing is happening between us at the moment, and we’ve all got more important shit to do than sweat over it.  
Speaking of more important shit to do, we’ve hit a hang up with the portal. There are very few things we need to make it that we don’t already have, but the things we’re lacking are pretty damn important.   
Like the wispmother essence and shards that we need before we can do anything else.  
Svar, Serana, and I sit around a table in the mess hall to eat our dinner.  
“This is a problem.” I say aloud.  
Serana hums. “I would agree. You would not happen to know the location of a wispmother would you?”  
I go through what I remember from the game to think about it.  
There’s that one in the valley to the south near that one hut with the guy. I obviously don’t remember it all that well though. All I know is that it’s south.  
There’s also that one on the way to the place Karliah shoots you with an arrow, but that’s on the other side of the province.  
There’s also the one in Labyrinthian, but I doubt we’ll be able to break through whatever wards Savos put up. I’m willing to bet that in real life his defences are a little more involved than replacing a door knocker.  
On second thought I could probably just use Yamato to cut our way in.   
I shake my head to refocus as I speak. “I’ve got a general location of two, but nothing’s exact, and they could’ve moved. I know for sure where one is, but it’s in a place I’d really rather not fuck with due to the extremely powerful undead lich that’s been sealed there. Plus, I don’t even know if we’ll be able to get in that place. The archmage of the College of Winterhold should have sealed it.”  
Serana doesn’t respond. Instead, she scans back over the book I gave her that details the portal’s construction process.  
Svar tilts her head at me. “I get liches are bad, but why would the archmage seal it away instead of organizing a force to destroy it?”  
I look to the ceiling as I consider how best to explain. “Because it’s not just a lich.” I begin. “It’s a dragon priest. Way back when dragons ruled Nirn, they would elevate some mortals who loyally served them. The dragons would make these followers immortal, and insanely powerful. Dragon priests aren’t your typical lich, and liches in general need lots of preparation.” An idea hits me. “Would Paarthurnax be willing to help us?”  
Svar shakes her head. “He’s made it very clear he is only my teacher. I think he might help with Alduin, but short of that, he’s impartial.”  
Well, at least he’s willing to teach Svar. She’s already improved immensely.  
We descend into silence once more as Serana continues to study her book.  
After a moment she says, “We cannot continue our work on the portal without a wispmother. While I am no warding expert, I have experience breaking weaker wards and seals, so I might be able to break through whatever this archmage has placed upon the place. If you are only sure of the location of the wispmother who resides there, I would prefer we go there. I am sure between Svarline, you, and myself, we will be able to deal with whatever threats may exist within. We have your knowledge to prepare ourselves with after all. So, what do we need to prepare for?” She looks up to meet my gaze as she finishes.  
That’s a good question. What the hell was in Labyrinthian? Lot’s of undead; skeletons, draugr, ghost draugr, ghost dogs, a skeletal dragon….  
Oh shit there’s a dragon.  
I let out a long sigh. “Ok. To start, there’s going to be a shit load of trolls before we even make it into the place, but they shouldn’t be all that hard to deal with. Then we’ve got undead out the ass. Skeletons, draugr both weak and strong, ghost draugr, ghost dogs, and even a skeletal dragon.”  
Svar’s eyes light up. “There’s a dragon there?” She asks excitedly.  
I nod. “There is, but don’t get too enthusiastic. I don’t think skeletal dragons have souls for you to absorb.”  
Her bright expression sours somewhat, but she perks back up. “That’s alright. Disappointing sure, but I’m fine with just fighting him.”  
“As interesting as a skeletal dragon is,” Serana breaks in. “I am much more concerned about this dragon priest. I have not fought any myself, but I remember the Mages Guild once assaulting and killing one. They lost over half of the battlemages that entered the fight. Would you tell us more about this one Dusk? Do we even need to face it in order to defeat the wispmother?”  
My eyes widen when she discusses the Mages Guild’s assault. “How many mages did they take that they lost half of them? I mean, are we talking four for a loss of two? Or more along the lines of a hundred for a loss of fifty?”  
Serana hums patiently. “There were a little over fifty mages assigned to the battle if I remember correctly. Now could you please provide details on this foe?”  
The Mages Guild lost over half of a fifty man force to take one of these bastards down? Ha, that asshole didn’t even have the Staff of Magnus.  
“Oh fuck.” I say aloud.  
Svar and Serana both become hyper-focused on my words.  
“What happened?” Svar asks seriously.  
I shake my head to focus. “Don’t worry, nothing’s about to attack us. I just remembered something that makes me really not want to fight this guy.”  
Serana’s eyes narrow. “What could make you more worried than my previous statement of a dragon priest's capabilities?”  
I swallow the lump in my throat. Thinking about fighting this guy would be quite fear inducing if I wasn’t me. Thanks for the save Gamer’s Mind!  
“For starters, the place I’ve been thinking about is Labyrinthian.” I say. “As I said, undead out the ass, but the dragon priest, who’s name is Morokei by the way, is going to be significantly worse to fight than a regular of his kind.”  
“Why’s that?” Svar asks.  
I sigh. Guess I should just come out and say it.  
“Because he has the Staff of Magnus.”  
Silence descends upon the room.  
Svar heavily leans back in her chair while she processes that. Serana on the other hand, leans forward.  
“Are you sure?” She asks.  
I shrug. “I give it 90% odds. Not everything is like I know it to be, but I feel like this one’s a pretty safe bet.”  
She studies me for a moment, and nods. “Then we must kill him.”

Quest added  
[Morokei!]  
You are headed to Labyrinthian, might as well defeat the mini-boss!  
Objective- Defeat the dragon priest sealed within Labyrinthian  
Bonus Objective- Collect the desired ingredients from the wispmother  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Rewards- The Staff of Magnus, Morokei, ?  
Bonus Rewards- Continued ability to work on the portal, ?  
Failure- Death and enslavement

Why is it death and enslavement? I really don’t like this.  
I raise an eyebrow across the table at Serana. “You heard what I said right? A being that can kill 30 out of 50 battlemages on their own, has one of the single most powerful artifacts in existence to make itself even more deadly. How exactly are we supposed to beat this guy?”  
She places a hand on her chin and looks down at the table. “It might have the staff, but the three of us are far from weak. I am a Daughter of Coldharbour. One who spent thousands of years honing her abilities. Svarline is the dragonborn. A dragonborn who has been training for nearly a month under one of the strongest dragons in recorded history.”  
Svar looks taken aback. “Wait, what was that about Paarthurnax?”  
Serana waves a hand in her direction. “There is a tome in the library that describes him in great detail. You should read it, but do not judge him too harshly for his past deeds.”  
Svar’s eyebrows draw together in confusion.  
I guess Serana found something talking about Paarthurnax’s overlord days. I’m pretty sure Svar will be able to see past that, but it’ll probably come as a bit of a shock.  
Serana looks up at me. “And you Dusk, I don’t know what you are, but you are far from normal.”  
I shrug. “True, but again. Dragon priest with the Staff of Magnus. We’re good, sure, but I don’t know if we’re that good. We could probably just ignore him, grab the stuff we need off the wispmother, and get the hell out of dodge.”  
Serana hums. “And leave such a powerful weapon in the hands of this Morokei? We have an opportunity to acquire the means to better ensure our survival, and I believe we should take it. With enough planning and preparation, I am confident we could defeat this creature.”  
I go to argue, but my mind wanders back to the Staff. In the game it was good, but grew to be mediocre the stronger me character got. In the lore though, that thing was insane. Though now that I’m thinking about it, didn’t it have some sort of One Ring function where it would abandon the wielder for one reason or another? I don’t remember all that well, but it doesn’t really matter. I’m really starting to hate Greed.  
I look up at Serana and narrow my eyes. “So we fight this age old undead dragon priest and maybe win, what happens then? Who’s to say you won’t stab us in the back to grab not only the staff, but Yamato, Ascalon, two Elder Scrolls, and an underground fortress that has the makings of a portal to the Soul Cairn inside? This seems like the perfect situation for you to get rid of us with little to no effort.”  
Svar tenses next to me as I stare across the table at Serana.  
Serana smiles at me. “While I suppose it is wise to mistrust me, you need not waste the effort. I give you my word that I will not attempt anything nefarious against either of you unless I am provoked.”  
Svar raises an eyebrow at the vampiress. “What exactly is your word worth? The last time someone promised us something, we got chased out of a city.”  
Serana chuckles as she turns to her. “I have no reason to lie to either of you. Had I wanted you dead, I would have killed you already. The both of you sleep quite soundly after all. No, I believe the three of us could grow to accomplish much in this world, throwing that away for something as materialistic as your weapons is foolish.”  
Ignoring the bit where she openly admitted to watching us sleep, I used my soul magic while she was talking to try to detect deceit, but all I got was a feeling of amusement and the impression of her soul waving at mine.  
I need to get a lot better at this.  
Svar relaxes slightly and turns to face me. “It’s up to you. I don’t think she’s lying, but that doesn’t mean she’s telling the truth.”  
My thoughts exactly.  
I sigh. “Alright, fine. We’ll try to bring down Morokei, but he’s going to be tough. How are we going to go about this?”  
Serana smiles. “He is not unbeatable. We need simply strike until he bleeds, then continue to rend at the wound.”  
Ya. It’s definitely going to be that easy.

The trip to Labyrinthian took around five days. The three of us and Mr. Rogers were trying to draw as little attention as possible, so while we could have just teleported or used Godspeed, we decided to walk. The only somewhat subtle teleport we have is Serana’s, and she’s never been to Labyrinthian before. Meaning she didn’t know where we were going, which left going by foot as our only option.  
We stayed off the roads, and avoided anyone Svar, Mr. Rogers, and Serana were able to sense. Aside from the local wildlife doing their very best to eat me, we didn’t have any trouble as far as combat is concerned. Interestingly enough though, it snowed at some point while we were in Sky Haven. I guess living underground can really make you grow out of touch with life on the surface.  
Serana, Svar, Mr. Rogers, and I are currently standing at the bottom of a very large, very icy staircase that leads up to seemingly nowhere. The only visible feature aside from the large staircase is the highest point of an archway at the very top of the mountain.  
Ya, fuck this. We’ve walked enough.  
“Serana? Could you teleport us to the top of that mountain? The more discrete the better.” I say while pointing toward said mountain.  
Serana nods, and holds her hand out. A swirling portal opens in front of her, and the three of us plus our ghost pup walk through.  
We appear at the apex of one of the smaller peaks in the area, but we’re more than high enough to observe our destination.  
Svar surveys the ground below. “This the place?” She asks.  
I nod to her.  
Below us, is a large crumbling stone ruin. It’s easily a mile or two long and wide, making it evident that this was once a large city. There are eroded pillars, collapsed statues, and staircases covered in snow. Quite a few structures were obviously small houses or shacks of some kind, but they have long since decayed into almost nothing.  
There are a few trolls and bears poking around, but other than that, the area is deserted.  
I continue to look around until my eyes come to rest in the center of the ruins.   
Directly in the center, is a large still standing structure. While some of the stone bricks have chipped away, the structure as a whole stands undisturbed. A stark contrast to the destruction around it.  
“That’s where we’re going.” I say, pointing to the center building.  
“Not much to look at.” Svar observes.  
Serana hums. “Neither are we at first glance. I will open another portal to transport us down, but stay on your guard. I do not wish to be ambushed.”  
Svar and I nod, and the three of us proceed through another one of Serana’s portals.  
We emerge not ten feet away from a giant, circular stone door.  
“Yep, this is definitely it.” I say.  
I reach into my inventory and pull out Mr. Rogers' katana. I toss it to him, and he catches it with a playful growl.  
Svar follows the action with a interest. "Since when did he have a sword?"  
I shrug. "Since I traded him for his other one, and enchanted this one."  
Svar raises an eyebrow. "He had another one that you traded him for?" She asks in amusement.  
"As amusing as this conversation is, I would appreciate it if we could focus on the ruin. There will be plenty of time to tell this story later." Serana says calmly as she moves forward, and I feel her pulling on her magic.  
She keeps channeling her magic, and grits her teeth. She tenses and keeps pouring magic out, but nothing happens.  
She relaxes with a long exhale, and turns to face us. “Whatever the archmage used to seal this place is incredibly powerful. One would typically need to sacrifice a soul to do what he achieved here. It is likely the work of the Staff of Magnus. I can’t break through it.”  
Huh, guess Savos used one of his little friends to close the place up. Does that mean there aren’t any ghosts binding Morokei in place? Need to watch out for that. If he’s got free reign of the entire ruin this is going to be a lot harder.  
I step past Serana as I pull Yamato from my inventory. “Better hope this works. Because if it doesn’t, we wasted this trip.” I say as I prepare to cut open the door.  
Standing not a foot away from the door, I slash out with Yamato. The enchanted stone holds for a brief moment, but gives way. I feel a great flood of magic wash over me as the sword cuts into the door.  
Stepping back in case of an attack, I wait for a moment.  
“What the hell was that?” Svar asks.   
She must’ve felt the wave too.  
“That,” Serana says cheerily. “was the ward breaking. We are now free to proceed.”  
She walks forward and through the makeshift doorway I carved into the stone door. Svar and I at her heels.  
“Alright.” I say. “From this point on, expect every corner to try and kill you. When we were in Blackreach we had the ability to teleport around all the unpleasant residents, we don’t have that ability here, so we’ll have to fight everything. Don’t drop your guard.”  
Svar gives me a nod and her skin turns to scales as her alteration magic does its work.  
Serana just smiles at me and begins walking into the ruined city’s center.   
The three of us hadn’t made it a hundred feet when a mass of draugr and skeletons charged towards us from down the hallway.  
I stepped in front of my companions, and pulled Yamato from my inventory once more. I let out two ranged horizontal cuts that extended the length of the hallway, bisecting the entire advancing force.  
They fell to the ground in pieces, and continued to roll towards us for a moment before coming to a stop.  
Svar walks forward. “Let’s hope it’s all that easy. The sooner we’re done here the sooner we get to leave.”  
The four of us continue on with me at the lead. Whenever we come to another group of undead, I use Yamato to kill them all at a distance.  
Even the stronger draugr fall quite easily to Yamato’s blade. Despite the fact Labyrinthian is far more populated than in the game, we’re progressing without issue.  
Svar and Serana have only needed to attack to stave off boredom, and Mr. Rogers happily runs forward to slash at anything that survives Yamato cutting it in half.  
I was honestly starting to feel pretty confident. Of course that’s when a large wave of blue mana washed over our group.  
Mr. Rogers yelped in pain and Serana, Svar and I nearly collapsed as over half of our mana was drained almost instantly. Svar’s scales revert back to normal skin.  
“WO LOS HI? HI LOS NI AREN.” A booming voice said from everywhere at once.  
“Svarline, translation.” Serana gasped out as she recovered.  
Svar takes a few deep breaths and says, “He’s asking who we are. He said we’re not Aren.”  
“Anyway to tell him to go fuck himself?” I half-heartedly ask after I’ve recovered.  
Svar lets out a small chuckle. “Paarthurnax wouldn’t teach me fuck. Said there are some powers mortals can’t be trusted with.”  
I let out a chuckle of my own, then turn to Serana. “Still think we can beat this asshole? That was just the staff. Had he been here to capitalize on that, it’s safe to say we’d be dead.”  
Serana nods sharply. “We will defeat him. The more powerful the weapon, the less the wielder focuses on maintaining their own abilities. Stick together, and we shall be victorious.”  
Another way swept through the hall and began draining us. Expecting it this time, we were able to stay on our feet, and the only effect was its drain on our mana.  
“KAH FEN KOS HIN OBLAAN, MON DO COLDHARBOUR.” The voice echoed with what seemed to be amusement.  
“Translation?” I asked Svar.  
“‘Pride will be your end, Daughter of Coldharbour.’ He knows what Serana is, and he can hear us.” She says.  
Serana’s features harden. “We will kill him.”  
Svar and I nod, and the three of us, as well as a pissed off Mr. Rogers, continue through the stone hallways.  
I stay in the lead with Yamato, and kill any undead that charge towards us. With the threat of Morokei suddenly sapping off our magic, it just makes sense to have the bladesman in front.  
We move through more undead, no ghosts just yet though, and come to a large iron gate.  
Svar looks at it with a large grin on her face. “Is this it?”  
I shrug. “As far as I know? Yes, but I’ve been wrong before.”  
“We should prepare for anything.” Serana says. I feel her pull on her magic, and her necrotic armor comes into being around her.  
Svar nods and her scales reappear. Her cloak also splits and opens up into her wings. While there isn’t all that much room to fly down here, there is some. Plus, the extra limbs will probably help her fight.  
I enter my lightning form, and walk through the metal gate.  
I emerge into a massive circular chamber. The ceiling is easily sixty feet up, and the room has a radius of roughly eighty feet. There are support columns every ten feet or so, but aside from that, the room is empty.  
I poke around with my soul magic, but don’t sense anything.  
I turn to Serana and Svar and quietly say, “Do you guys sense anything I don’t?”  
“KORAAV.” Svar quietly uses her thu’um, but her words still carry a great sense of power. She begins looking around the area.  
Serana doesn’t move, focused on listening for movement.  
My sixth sense triggers and I grab Svar and Serana on the shoulder to teleport away with them.  
I look back and see Mr. Rogers stabbing his sword up into a hulking, rotting mass of bone and sinew.  
Mr. Rogers lands a few hits, but the thing swipes out at him with something I can’t quite make out, and Mr. Rogers dissipates.  
Oh we are murdering this thing now.

DIILUNSLAADSULEYK  
Undeath. Eternal. Power.  
Level- ???  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thought about you- ???

The skeletal dragon turned its skull to face us, and made a large clacking sound as it started to charge.  
“GOLZ!” Svar shouts.  
The stone floor beneath the dragon begins to open in some places, and grow spikes in others. Slowing the dragon’s progress, and leaving many exploitable openings.  
Serana began taking advantage with ice magic while I activated Godspeed.  
Moving through Svar’s obstacles at the speed of lightning, I pull Yamato from my inventory. I weave in close to the dragon, and reach up with my blade towards it’s right wing. I slash down and disappear with Godspeed.  
I stop and turn around to observe the battlefield, and see the dragon’s severed wing on the ground. I smile and move to charge at it’s other side, when its severed wing begins floating. The wing bone rises up and perfectly reattaches itself to where it was just cut from.  
What?  
The dragon turns its skull to look at me and makes louder clacking sounds. It turns and begins moving towards me.  
I Godspeed away and appear next to Serana.   
“Swords obviously aren’t that useful right now. You’re the necromancer, how do we fight this thing?” I ask her.  
She snarls as she throws more ice magic at the dragon. “I can’t sense whatever is binding it here. This is not a normal undead, otherwise I would have sent it on already. We must either flee, or find its connection to this plane.”  
“Where the hell would that be?” I ask as I join her in throwing elemental magic towards the dragon.  
It has turned back around, and is still focused on me.  
“Svarline!” Serana draws Svar’s attention. “Look for a connection this beast has to the world!”  
Svar uses her alteration magic to turn the hazardous stone maze she made with her thu’um slick with oil, causing the dragon to slip to the ground. “What?” She yells back.  
I let out a grunt of frustration. “Just find anything that’s metaphysically connected to the dragon. We’ll buy you time.” I charge in with Godspeed and Yamato.  
Svar still looks confused, but still begins scanning the surroundings.   
I rush in and out of reach of the dragon, taking a limb with every pass. All it does is slow the thing down. It always repairs itself, and just keeps on trying to bite me.  
Serana continues to ice up its joints to prevent movement, but again, the dragon is only concerned with biting off my head for whatever reason.  
All of a sudden, Svar’s wings open wide and she flys straight towards the ceiling. She looks around frantically, and comes to a stop at a point next to one of the columns. She uses her alteration magic to force long claws to extend from her fingernails, and she begins tearing into the stone.  
Serana and I keep kiting the undead dragon around while she works.  
Svar makes one more slash against the column, and calls out, “Got it!” She dives to Serana and hands her a small stone growling a sickly green.  
Serana wraps her hand around the stone and forces a large amount of magic into it.  
The moment she does, the dragon skeletal dragon collapses.  
Because I believe in the sacred art of the double tap, I rush forward and immediately inventory each piece of the dragon separately. Soon, there’s nothing left of the beast.  
I look over at Svar and Serana, to find Serana smiling widely as she looks at the still glowing rock in her hand.  
Well that can’t be good.  
I deactivate Godspeed and walk over to them. “What is that thing?” I ask as I get closer.  
Serana turns to grin at me. “It is a soul stone. They are very hard to come by, and quite powerful.”  
Not that I don’t trust you, but...

Soul Stone  
Able to seal the souls of powerful creatures in order to use them as a power source  
Has a variety of uses

Serana raises an eyebrow at me. “Did I not just tell you what it was?”  
I shrug. “There’s no harm in verifying.”  
She hums, but doesn’t respond.  
Svar lets out a breath as her scales fade. “How much further is the wispmother?” She asks.  
I shrug. “Not sure. Shouldn’t be too long.”  
I summoned Mr. Rogers and scratched him behind the ears.  
“You ok bud?” I ask.  
He wags his tail and barks at me.  
I smile. “Good boy.” I give him back his sword, and the four of us continue on our way.  
We keep wandering through the halls, fighting through more undead, and finding nothing interesting.  
We round another corner and find more undead, only these ones are ghosts.   
“Allow me.” Serana says as she steps forward. “Your sword will not be able to harm things that have no substance.”  
I stay where I am and grin. “You wanna bet?” I slash through the hallway, and every ghost lets out a horrible shriek, before fading into nothingness.  
Serana’s eyes widen as she views the result. She turns to me with a curious expression. “Where exactly did you acquire such a blade?” She asks curiously.  
The corner of my lip pulls up. “I pulled it out of my ass.” I say.  
Svar starts cackling behind us. “Yep, his booty is pretty valuable.”  
I turn around and raise an eyebrow at her. “Pretty sure my booty is priceless.”  
Svar puts a hand on her chin and tilts her head. “The sword? Definitely. The other? I’ve seen better.”  
“Well now you’ve hurt my feelings.” I say with feigned hurt.  
She smiles and leans in for a kiss.  
“Don’t worry.” She says as she pulls away. “I still like you.”  
“Please save it for later.” Serana says, sounding irritated.  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “What’s got you so pissed off?”  
She turns to glare at me. “There is a time and a place for affection. This is neither that time, nor that place.”  
Svar shrugs at her, and the four of us continue on.  
We round another corner when another blue hued wave washes over us, draining our mana.  
“HI LOST WAHL NII GUT. ZU’U FEN MED DU HIN SIL.” The voice speaks out once more.  
I take a deep breath. “Svar?”   
“‘You’ve made it far. I will enjoy devouring your souls.’ He’s being pretty damn cliche don’t ya think?” She answers.  
Serana chuckles softly. “Yes he is. I cannot tell you the number of times I have received such threats.”  
The three of us and Mr. Rogers continued on.  
I Yamato’d a few more groups of undead, and we kept wandering through old stone hallways.  
After a little more wandering, and a little more bisecting, we came to a small corridor blocked off by ice.  
Huh, don’t remember that from the game.  
“I will handle this.” Serana says as she walks forward. She begins calling on her cryomancy, when a large blizzard erupts from the blocked off area. Serana is blown back by the gust, but lands on her feet and is instantly on guard.  
“What the hell is that?” Svar asks as her skin turns to black scales.  
Emerging from the far end of the passage, is a female humanoid shaped mass of walking ice. The entity moves forward a few feet more, before stopping to look at me.

Frost Elemental  
Level- 147  
Tier- Immortal  
HP- 14734  
Thought about you- You smell interesting. She wants to absorb you and take your power.

Sentient ice that wants to eat me. Must be a Tuesday.  
The emotionless face of the elemental stares at me, and then sixth sense triggers.  
I grab Svar and teleport out of the way as giant icicles shoot out of the ground and begin flying around the room.  
I pull Yamato from my inventory and use a ranged slash to try and kill the thing. My attack connects, and the elemental’s form falls away, but she just remolds the severed ice and rises back to her feet.  
I let out a sigh.  
I’m really kind of done with this.  
I move forward and keep slashing with Yamato. The cuts don’t really harm the thing, but they do make it so she can’t move.  
“Svar?” I say as I continue mulching the elemental. “Fire would be nice.”  
Svar grins and walks up next to me. Smoke begins to rise from her shoulders as she takes in a deep breath.  
“YOL TOOR SHUL!!!” Svar shouts.  
Instead of the wave that typically accompanies the shout, there is instead a beam of fire as if a dragon had shouted instead of Svar.  
She’s getting better.  
The elemental tries to get away, but between me cutting any part of it that moves, a now recovered Serana forcing away it’s ice, and Svar melting it to slag, there isn’t much it can do.   
The fire continues for a second longer before all the ice in the area evaporates.  
I feel around for its soul just in case, but find nothing. It’s dead.  
“Well,” Svar says. “she was a lot less intimidating than she looked.”  
“We had a hard counter for her.” I respond. “We might not have one for whatever comes next.”  
Serana hums. “True, but so long as we are not caught unawares, I believe we will be fine.”  
The three of us continued on. Mr. Rogers trotting along behind us.  
A few groups of undead later, and we enter another large chamber. There is a small stairway leading on at the far end, but other than that, it’s pretty open in here.  
Serana’s mouth forms into a wide grin. “We’re here.” She says.  
“How can you tell?” Svar asks.  
“I can hear bells.” Serana says simply.  
“Guess we’re in the right place.” I say as I enter my lightning form.  
Svar and Serana follow my example. Donning their scales and armor respectively.  
The three of us and our ghost dog walk forward, keeping our eyes open to our surroundings.   
From the right, I hear a faint tinkling of bells. I look over and see a faint light blue glow coming from one of the walls.  
“There.” I point it out to my companions and get ready.  
Sixth Sense suddenly screams from beneath me and I dive to the side.  
Emerging from the floor beneath where I was standing, is a pale ghostly woman wearing nought but torn white wrappings.

Alfhina  
Mother of Wisps  
Level- ???  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thought about you- ???

I’m going to murder this bitch.  
I Godspeed away from her while Svar charges in.  
“YOL TOOR SHUL!!!” Svar unleashes more flame towards the ghostly woman.  
The wispmother falls back into the ground to escape, and disappears from view. At the same time, dozens of small blue orbs emerge from the surrounding walls and ceiling. Every one charges towards myself and my companions.  
Mr. Rogers charges a pack headed towards him with a challenging growl. He swings his sword back and forth, but the small globes are too agile for him to land a hit on.  
Serana draws her own blade, and begins striking out at the wisps. Her frost magic will be all but useless against these things.  
From where I stand, I begin firing bolts at each of the wisps I can see. Most connect, but the wisps just fall back into the walls to recover whenever they get hit.  
Sixth Sense screams again, and I teleport to the other side of the chamber. Turning back, I see the ghostly woman glaring at me as she moves back toward the wall.  
I’ve got to take away their phasing.  
“Cover me!” I yell.  
I don’t wait for a response. The wispmother is too close to the wall, and I won’t be able to force her out.  
I crouch down and place my hands on the ground. I channel my magic, and force it out into my desired shape. The lightning runs through the ground, up the walls, and across the ceiling according to my will.   
The wispmother is inches from the wall, when a blue field emerges from it, forcing the ghostly woman back.  
It’s taking all my concentration, but I’ve managed to create an electrical prison around the entire chamber. The walls, ceiling, and floor are now charged with lightning. Making phasing through them all but impossible.  
The wispmother turns to me and screams in rage. She raises her arms and creates a storm of icicles. She brings her arms back down, and every chunk of ice she just created is sent towards me at incredible speeds.  
Before they can reach me, however, Svar appears in front of them and shouts once more. “YOL!!!” Her entire form is covered in flame with her word, and she spreads her flaming wings to interrupt the path of the ice. The ice sizzles and evaporates when it comes into contact with her, leaving the both of us unharmed.  
I smile. “You guys get the big one.” I say to Serana and Svar. “I’ve got the pests.”  
I close my eyes and use my lightning to feel for the magnetic fields around me. Given I have the entire room surrounded in my magic, I can feel every movement within. I mark Svar, Serana, and Mr. Rogers as friendly, and start sending bolts at everything else.   
From the walls, ceiling, and floor, lightning bolts shoot out and collide with every wisp in the air. Some try to dodge, only to move into the path of other bolts. Others try to phase back into the ground, and are electrocuted by my cage of lightning.  
What wisps are able to avoid me, are forced directly into Mr. Rogers, who has dropped his sword and decided to tear them apart with his teeth.  
“RONAAZ!!!” I hear Svar yell, and feel her spectral bow form in her hands. She begins firing arrows into the wispmother while Serana strikes with her sword.  
The last wisp dies, and I focus all my magic onto the wispmother. She’s been pincushioned by ethereal arrows, cut apart with Serana’s enchanted sword, and is now being assaulted on all sides by her own personal lightning storm.  
The wispmother doesn’t last long.  
With one last anguished filled shriek, her form explodes into magical ice.   
Once I check with my soul magic to ensure she’s dead, I release my magic and let the lightning cage fall.  
Mr. Rogers retrieves his sword, and Svar’s scales turn back into skin.  
I look over to where the wispmother died, to find Serana already poking through its remains.  
“Would you put these in your other space Dusk? I would hate for them to become damaged in our battle with the dragon priest.” Serana holds out several softly glowing pieces she looted from the explosion.  
I walk up and put everything in my inventory. “So we’re really going to fight him huh?”   
Serana nods. “We have come this far. It would be a waste to not pay him a visit.”  
Another large blue wave rushes through the chamber. Taking our mana with it.  
“HI LOS DUN. ZU’U SARAAN UN GRAH.” Speaks the accompanying voice.  
Serana and I both turn to Svar with raised eyebrows.   
She shrugs. “Essentially, ‘You’re strong. I await our battle.’ I’m really starting to think this guy doesn’t know what the word ‘original’ means.”  
The three of us continue deeper into the ruined city. Mr. Rogers chews on the handle of his sword while he follows behind us.  
We walk for another half hour. We encounter no undead, and no traps. However, the further we walk, the more each of us is made aware of a large concentration of magic in the direction we’re walking.  
“I believe we are here.” Serana says as we come to a stop at a large iron door.  
“Be careful.” I say. “We’ve already seen his wave dispel Svar’s scales. There’s no reason to believe our other magical defenses will be immune.”  
Serana and Svar nod.  
Serana turns to Svar. “If you would do the honors?”  
Svar steps forward and takes a deep breath. “FUS RO DAH!!!” A tangible blue-hued energy booms out from her. The door is torn from its hinges as the wave passes through it, revealing a wide, high ceilinged chamber with numerous support columns beyond it.  
Heh, she figured out the staple. Nice.  
We cautiously proceed into the large chamber, and our eyes are instantly drawn to the large blue orb in its center. Or, more precisely, the figure imprisoned within it.  
Wearing only a torn cloak that barely reaches the small of his back, and a small kilt, is the dragon priest Morokei. His skin is pulled tight against the bone, with no trace of muscles or organs. His limbs are long, but toothpick thin. He floats a few feet from the ground, and studies us from behind his expressionless mask.  
My eyes wander down to his left hand, and see the Staff of Magnus in all its glory.

The Staff of Magnus  
Divine Weapon  
The staff of the God of Magic, left behind when he fled Mundus  
Absorbs mana from the target for as long as they are within range  
Absorbs life force from the target when mana is depleted  
Empowers the wielder with its stolen magic

Morokei  
Glorious  
Level- ???  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thought about you- ???

This is really going to suck.  
“What have you determined?” Serana calmly asks from my side without looking away from Morokei.  
“As we figured, magic is all but useless against this guy. Don’t cast any spells after the battle starts because they’ll do nothing. If anything they will just empower him. It’s a safe bet to assume any improvement spells will work against us too. We’ll have to fight a purely physical battle.” I respond.  
“Understood.” Serana says.   
I hear her snarl softly and look over.  
Her muscles bulge, and her jaw unhinges. Her skin grows even paler, and two large bat-like wings emerge from her back.  
She’s going vampire lord right from the start? I knew this fight was gonna suck.  
Svar pulls Ascalon and begins preparing herself.  
I hear a small whine, and look down to Mr. Rogers.  
I smile sadly. “Sorry boy. I don’t know how that staff will interact with you, and I’d rather not have anything irreversible happen.”  
He nods his head sadly and tosses me his sword.  
I inventory it, then unsummon him.  
I take in a deep breath as I pull Yamato from my inventory. I let it out, and turned back to face the dragon priest.  
Paying more attention to the shield he is confined in this time, I observe two beams leading off and up away from it.  
“Get ready.” I say.   
I grab both women on the shoulder, and teleport us up towards a ledge where the first beam leads.   
Sitting in a meditative position on the ground is a female ghost, wearing mages robes. She doesn’t pay us any mind, focusing solely on Morokei.  
I reach out with my soul magic to try to see if she’s still alive somehow, but only feel a battery.  
Savos really fucked over his friends.  
I walk to the ledge’s edge, and look down to the source of the other beam. There is a ghostly male mage a little ways away in a similar position to the female sitting near me.  
I look back at Svar and Serana. “Are you ready? The second I do this it’s game on.”  
I get a determined nod from each of them, and bring Yamato up.  
“Go.” I say, quickly sending a ranged slice at the male, cutting him in half. I pivot and slice through the woman as well.  
I hear a triumphant screech and turn my blade to point at Morokei. I refrain from striking when I see Serana has already used her vampiric speed to close the gap.  
She has engaged the lich in martial combat. Her using her sword and claws, while Morokei uses the staff of Magnus as a bo staff.  
Even as he fights the vampiress, the dragon priest laughs. He breaks away from Serana for a moment and gestures with his right hand.  
A large portal opens up behind Serana in response to the action, and a large mass of moving fire floats through.

Fire Elemental  
Level- 184  
Tier- Immortal  
HP- 19524  
Thought about you- You aren’t important at the moment

Before the elemental can close the distance to Serana, I use my Akaviri Sword Style to send slash, after ranged slash into the thing.  
Each cut severs it, but I’m having the same problem I had with the frost elemental. Whenever something gets cut off, the elemental can just replace it.  
On the plus side, the elemental couldn’t really move while it was reconstituting itself. I was keeping it busy if nothing else.  
I spared a quick glance back toward Morokei to find Svar having joined in the fight. Being nowhere near as fast as Serana, Svar was playing support. Whenever it looked like Morokei had an opening, she would step in to let Serana recover before quickly exiting his range again.  
This isn’t working.  
We’re keeping both the elemental and Morokei busy. Making it so they can’t cast anything, but it’s not going to be enough. All it takes is him getting one lucky chance to cast one spell, or using the staff unimpeded and we’re fucked.  
Looking slightly behind the elemental, I get an idea. I send one more slash into it to slow it down, and change targets to the three support columns around it.  
Three strikes later, and the columns collapse, bringing that section of the ceiling with them.   
The elemental tries to dodge, but I send more sword strikes into it to stop its movement.  
It gets buried under the rubble, and I’m free to strike at Morokei for a bit.   
I’m not naive enough to think that stunt killed the thing, but it will keep it busy for a couple seconds while it tries to find a way free.  
I jump from my ledge and charge across the ground towards Morokei. Even without Godspeed, I get there within five seconds, and move to attack Morokei’s back, while Serana strikes from the front.  
“FIIK LO SAH!!!” The gravelly voice shouts out, surprising me. Morokei turns around to face me, while a phantom version of himself moves forward to press the attack on Serana.  
Oh shit.  
I try to slice right through him, but Yamato is stopped cold by the Staff of Magnus, surprising absolutely no one.  
This is gonna suck.  
I retreat slightly to try and give myself some space, but the priest gives me no room.   
He keeps close to me, floating up, down, and sideways to try to create openings in my guard.   
I trade strikes and parries with him, but can’t get around his guard. This guy is freaking good, and I can’t rely on Godspeed right now.   
I bash the Staff of Magnus away, giving myself a brief opening, and move to capitalize.  
“LUN!!!” Morokei shouts once again.  
Originating from the large orb atop the Staff of Magnus, another large blue wave expands in every direction.  
Being closest, I’m hit first.  
My strike is forgotten as I gasp. My magic being torn from me. A moment later I feel a large impact on my midsection

-1362 HP

The orb of Morokei’s staff connects with my chest and I’m sent flying. I roll to a stop with a groan, and force myself to look up.  
Morokei’s clone thing is gone, and Serana is on top of the real one again. She has a large burn on the right side of her face though. Something got a good hit in on her.  
Svar has moved away from the pair, and is currently battling the escaped fire elemental. She’s moving slower, and it looks like she’s giving all she can just to dodge away from the large pyres of fire the elemental is giving off.  
This is so bad.  
I pick up Yamato to support Svar when I hear a loud scream of pain from Serana. I snap my head to look over and see her pinned to the ground, struggling to get up.  
Morokei floats over her, firing bolt after bolt of lightning into her body to keep her still.  
Shit.  
Svar’s standing, Serana’s about to be finished off.  
I reach out toward Serana with my off hand and start to channel what mana hasn’t been taken from me. I don’t cast any spells, they would only fuel the Staff. Instead, I do everything I can to divert Morokei’s bolts away from Serana. I’m a master electromancer. Changing the path of lightning is within my capabilities.  
The dragon priest turns to me in frustration, giving me a slight opening. I bring Yamato up and send a ranged slash just inside Morokei’s guard.  
The lich screams in pain and fury as his left arm falls to the ground. The Staff of Magnus falling with it.  
Not wasting the chance, I immediately activate Godspeed and rush in to grab the Staff. I place Yamato in my inventory on the way over to free up both of my hands. I put a hand on Serana, and use the other to pick up the Staff. No longer under threat of the Staff, I teleport the two of us and the Staff away.  
Coming out of the teleport I spare no time. I turn around and Godspeed back towards Svar and the elemental.  
Sweat is pouring from her forehead when I get to her, but she is still fighting the thing. I place the orb of the staff against the creature and pull.  
The elemental gives a shriek of pain as I begin to drain its power away. The process isn’t fast enough, as a pissed off Morokei slams into me and punches me in the throat with his one remaining arm.

-167 HP

He reaches out to wrench the staff from me, but I inventory it before he can.  
He shrieks in rage and forces a spell into my throat.

-2147 HP  
-10 HP per second until healed

Morokei throws me to the ground, and reaches out his arm to open another portal.  
Another fire elemental, as well as two frost elementals emerge from it.  
The three charge toward me, and I teleport away.   
Morokei teleports after me, and tries to cast another spell when a black blur rams into him from the side.  
A now black scaled Svar starts to strike out at him with Ascalon, but the lich creates several magical shields to protect himself.  
I heal myself to stop my HP loss, and look over to the new elementals. I find them and the first fire elemental doing battle with two nether liches.  
Seeing what Serana did, I summon Mr. Rogers and toss him his sword.  
“Kill those fucks!” I yell at him.  
He growls and charges them.  
I turn back around to face Morokei.  
The lich has beaten Svar to the ground, her scaled form slowly rolling over to try and stand, but a ghostly armored vampire lord Serana has taken her place and is continuing to hary the lich.   
I enter my Lightning Form and reactivate Godspeed, joining into the fray.  
While Ascalon and Serana’s sword are deflected away by the lich’s shields, Yamato cuts straight through them. I take a piece of his stomach with my first strike.   
The lich screams and channels more magic than I thought he had.  
I reach into my inventory to pull the Staff back out and stop him. I begin siphoning off his magic even as he forces more into whatever spell he’s attempting.  
He growls in frustration, and I feel a portion of his mana split off. A bolt of sickly green energy shoots from his hand straight towards Svar.  
She’s still getting up, and has no idea the attack is coming.  
I can’t stop it without letting Morokei continue whatever it is he’s trying, butI have to help Svar.  
I teleport over to Svar and knock her to the side, absorbing the spell into the Staff.  
Morokei laughs triumphantly as he unleashes his spell.  
The entire chamber becomes blanketed in a swirling storm of fire and frost.   
I slam the Staff into the ground and create a dome roughly 8 feet in radius that negates every part of Morokei’s spell that comes near me and Svar, but can’t do much else aside from that.   
A violet portal opens at my side, and a heavily burned and battered Serana falls through it just as Svar finally climbs to her feet.  
“What the fuck do we do now?” I ask them both.  
“Soul stone….” Serana says through gritted teeth. “Use…. the Soul Stone. Trap. Him.”  
She pulls said stone out and hands it to me, motioning for her to take the Staff.  
I take the stone and give her the Staff.   
She grabs it and keeps up the negation field I made. “I’ll cover you.” She says terse.  
I look at Svar, and she gives me a nod.  
“Go.” Serana says. She lifts the Staff up and starts absorbing the storm into its orb.  
“KORAAV!! PRODAH!!! Follow me.” Svar says and takes off at an alteration magic enhanced run.  
I reactivate Godspeed and follow after her.

-50 HP per second exposed to the storm

I ignore the notification and loss of HP, and press on.  
With the elemental storm raging around us, I can’t see or hear a thing.  
I close my eyes, and use my soul magic to follow after Svar. I sense her closing in on something incredibly powerful, and rush in front of her with Yamato drawn.   
Through the storm, I begin sending ranged slashes at the entity, and am rewarded with a shriek so loud I can hear it through the blizzard.  
Svar passes by me on the right and shouts, “TIID!”   
From my perspective, it's as if she just sped up to a speed almost equal to Godspeed. She rapidly closes the gap on Morokei, and weaves in and out of every bolt he sends her way.  
Slow Time is OP.  
I keep sending slashes at Morokei whenever Svar gives me an opening.  
Through my soul magic, I feel a chunk of his stomach come clean, then a finger, then his leg, then Svar takes his hand.  
Morokei grows desperate, he begins to try to flee, but Svar shouts again.  
“HORVUTAH!!!”  
Morokei freezes in place, unable to react in any way.  
Realizing the opportunity for what it is, I Godspeed forward with the soul Stone in my hand.  
I press the stone against his unmoving chest and channel soul magic as I try to force him into the gem.  
He resists, even as his form is frozen.  
The two of us metaphysically battle back and forth, and I slowly start to lose ground.   
I grit my teeth and keep pressing, but Morokei slowly starts to get the better of me.  
Goddamn it! I’m not strong enough!  
I feel a hand press against my shoulder and suddenly Morokei is the one on the back foot.  
I redouble my efforts and force everything I have into this battle.  
I can feel the dragon priests struggle, I can feel his fear.  
I let out a yell and forced him the rest of the way.  
His soulless body crumples to the ground, and I can hear his anguished screams from within the stone. Lamenting his freedom from one prison only to be chained within another.  
I allow myself a smile as the storm around us fades to nothing.  
I feel around with my soul magic for the elementals, nether liches, and Mr. Rogers, but find nothing. They all must have perished fighting each other in the storm.

Quest Complete!  
[Morokei!]  
You are headed to Labyrinthian, might as well defeat the mini-boss!  
Objective- Defeat the dragon priest sealed within Labyrinthian(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Collect the desired ingredients from the wispmother(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Soul Trap Morokei(Complete)  
Rewards- The Staff of Magnus, Morokei, 1 Gacha coin  
Bonus Rewards- Continued ability to work on the portal, 2 Gach coins

Level up x14  
Gain + 140 Stat points

For defeating two enemies over 100 levels higher than you, you gain +10 levels

For reaching 800 INT you have gained a perk!  
WUBRG  
You are capable of using any magic, and using it when it would be impossible for a normal mage. Non-magic zones mean nothing to you, and worlds bereft of magic are your playground. Note: Your magic can still be negated by powerful opponents and artifacts, but barring those circumstances you will always have access to your magic

For reaching 800 WIS you have gained a perk!  
player.restoreav magicka 1000  
You MP regen now equals WIS x 10

For reaching 400 CHA you have gained a perk!  
Unintentionally Suave  
When you make statements that would typically be taken as insulting, they will be taken as compliments. (Does not apply if it is your intent to insult them)

For reaching 400 LUK you have gained a perk!  
Uh… That way!  
Occasionally when unsure of the correct course of action, you will feel an urge pointing you towards a certain option (Action must be unambiguously correct. Ex. The stream is in that direction. NOT Is this a good plan?)

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 194  
Class- Saber - LVL 95/100 [12%]  
Crafting Class- N/A [0%]  
Tier- Mortal  
Alignment- ???  
HP- 13560 [2712 per minute]  
MP- 16720 [8360 per minute]  
SP- 13560 [2712 per minute]  
STR- 674  
END- 678  
DEX - 480  
INT - 836  
WIS - 836  
CHA - 440  
LUK - 444  
MP Regen= WIS x 10  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 4  
SP/HP= END x 20

I look up at Svar and smile. “Holy shit. We fucking did it!”  
She ignores me. Her eyes focused behind me.  
Oh shit.  
I quickly turn around and find Serana no longer transformed. Most of her clothes have been burned away, and her body is covered in burn marks and deep gashes. The Staff of Magnus lays abandoned at her feet.  
I rush up to her and start healing her, but she cries out in pain.  
“Restoration… deadly…. undead.” She forces out, before swiftly collapsing.  
I catch her and lay her down.  
“Svar.” I look up at her. “Do you know of any ways to heal a vampire?”  
She shakes her head as she rushes up. “I’ve never had to try before.”  
“Blood.” Serana gasps. “Need….blood.”   
Fuck.  
I look through my inventory but I don’t have any bodies left. I gave them all up to be turned into undead.  
I look at Svar, and see she is beat to shit.  
Without her scales covering it up, her form is also covered in burns, and punctures. She’s not nearly as bad as Serana, but she’s not exactly ready to be a blood donor.  
“Fuck.” I say aloud.  
Svar falls down to her knees next to me. “What do we do?” She asks frantically.  
I shake my head and look back down at Serana.  
The only sources of blood here are Svar and I, and if Serana starts drinking from Svar she’s probably not going to be able to stop herself in time. Svar has too little left.  
I have Gamer’s Body though. As long as I have HP I’ll live.  
Svar is frantically pulling cloth out of her bag and pushing it into Serana’s wounds, but it’s not doing a damn thing.  
“Svar.” I say.  
She looks at me pleadingly.  
“Serana needs blood, and if we give her yours she’ll drain you. If we give her mine though, I’ll be fine, but I need you to keep casting healing spells on me. Otherwise she’ll kill me. Do you understand?”  
She nods and moves closer to me.  
This is going to suck.  
Serana has stopped moving when I bring my forearm to her mouth. She doesn’t respond, so I cut myself on her fangs.  
Serana’s eyes snap open and she latches down on my arm.

-500 HP per second you are drained

Svar starts to heal me, and my hit points play a sick game of tug of war as Serana continues to drink for a full minute.  
Her pale skin gains a slight hint of color, and her wounds slowly start to heal themselves. She continues to drink with a hungry glare in her eyes.  
I’m starting to get kind of light headed. Can that even happen to me?

I lose a few seconds, minutes? All I know is that I’m now lying on my back.  
When did I fall down? Huh, my arm doesn’t hurt anymore, but now my neck does.   
I groggily look around, and see Svar knelt down over me with tears in her eyes. Serana sits next to her with an expression I can’t quite decipher.  
Svar and Serana share a look, and one of them says something to the other that I can’t understand.  
Serana gives Svar a sharp nod, and brings her wrist to her mouth. She cuts herself open with her fangs, and slowly lowers her hand to my mouth. Some of her blood falls away and splatters against my chin and mouth.  
What the hell’s going on? Wasn’t Serana half dead a second ago?  
I open my mouth and lick my lips.  
I taste the most delicious thing I have ever tasted, and latch my mouth around the source. Hungrily drinking up the delicious fluid.  
I drink and drink, but it becomes painful so I pull away. I lay back and more pain comes. I try to relax, but it grows unbearable.  
I scream.   
It feels as if my muscles are being pulled as far as they can physically go. As if my bones are breaking and reforming. As if my body is imploding on itself.  
I let out one last scream as darkness takes me.

(Serana moments ago)

I feel my hold on this world slipping. Nothing I’ve tried has stemmed the flow of blood from my wounds.  
Dusk and Svarline speak above me, but I pay it no mind. They have no way to resuscitate me that does not involve great sacrifice on their part. They have both made their distrust of me quite clear, and it would be foolish to believe they would risk themselves to bring me back.  
My stomach clenches as another tremor of pain passes through it.  
I chuckle internally, for I am physically incapable of doing so outwardly.  
I am a Daughter of Coldharbour, amongst some of the strongest beings on Mundus, and I’m going to die forgotten in a tomb lost to time. I haven’t even been free of the last such tomb for a whole year, and already I’ve expired.  
Do I regret it?  
Hmm, I suppose I regret having to die, but I do not regret the actions that brought my death about. Had I not overextended, Svarline would have been cut down by a strike she did not even see. Had I not poured the last of my strength into the Staff, the entire structure would have collapsed on top of us. Killing everyone. This way, only I die.  
I chuckle again as I think back to a discussion I once had with my mother.  
‘You will one day find someone for whom you would do anything.’ She said. ‘For me, that person was once your father. See to it that you do not make the same mistakes I did.’  
Looks like I did mother. I’m sorry I couldn’t free you, and I hope you never see me again. If you arrive where I am bound, I will be most put out.  
My thoughts turn hazy as I feel the last of my strength leave me.  
Something is placed against my mouth, but I’m too weak to care. A moment passes, and the same object is forced into my mouth, and stabbed against my fang.  
BLOOD!!!  
I latch my fangs around the source and begin to feed, uncaring how my companions were able to acquire a corpse.   
I drink and drink for what feels like hours as I lavish in the new unlife the blood provides me.  
“Serana!” I hear someone shout, but ignore them in favor of the blood.  
“SERANA!!!” This shout is accompanied by a large force impacting my head.  
I’m forced away from my meal, and turn to snarl at Svarline.  
“You’re killing him!” She shouts in my face.  
I scoff, you cannot kill that which is already dead. I know not where they acquired the corpse, but Dusk could have…  
Dusk.  
A cold spike of dread pierces my being as I look down at the body upon which I just fed.   
Dusk lies unmoving on the ground. His wrist still leaks blood from the wounds my fangs inflicted upon him. I can still feel his soul, and hear his heartbeat, but both are faint and growing weaker.  
“No.” I gasp as I realize what I’ve done.  
Svarline rushes past me and begins frantically trying to heal him, but her magic only causes him to hiss in pain.  
She pulls back and turns to me. “What’s happening to him?”  
I force my emotion down and move to sit next to her. I need to be sure.  
I look at his eyes. Where before they were an ash grey, they have become red-hued in the iris. I listen for his heart, and find it slowing even faster.  
I solemnly look to Svarline. “He’s dying.”  
Her eyes narrow at me. “Then fucking fix him! We just fixed your sorry ass, so return the Oblivion damned favor!”  
“There’s only one thing I can do. He is in this state because I did not control myself while feeding from him. If I do not turn him, he will die.” I respond seriously.  
Svarline’s eyes widen. “Are you fucking kidding me?!?!” She screams. “You turned him into a damn vampire?!?!”  
I shake my head. “Not yet. Turning someone has to be intentional, but the wounds I’ve inflicted will not heal without a master restoration mage on hand. Something we don’t have. The only way I can save him is to turn him.”  
Svarline opens and closes her jaw a few times. Her eyes regain their focus and bore into my being. “Will he still be Dusk?” She asks, deadly calm.  
I nod. “Yes. He will need to adjust to his new abilities and urges, but he will still be Dusk.”  
She holds my gaze for a moment longer before she speaks. “Do it.”  
Without waiting for her to say anything else, I lift Dusk’s form up to allow me at his neck. While it is possible to turn someone with any bite, the neck is the easiest.  
I sink my fangs into him as gently as I can, and drain the last of his blood.  
I pull back, and sense him regain a hint of consciousness.  
He nearly died for me. I would never have expected such an outcome. I don’t know how to feel.  
Svarline turns to look at me with tears in her eyes. “Bring him back Serana.” She says in a voice heavy with weariness. “Please bring him back.”  
I give her a sharp nod and bring my wrist to my mouth. I use my fangs to cut my wrist open, and lower it down to Dusk’s mouth.  
He seems confused for a second, but then he gets his first taste. His eyes shoot open wide and he latches down on my wrist drinking hungrily.   
He slows after a moment, then outright stops. His face contorts and he lets out a scream.  
He writhes in pain, and I have to stop Svarline from moving to aid him.  
“He has to do this on his own.” I tell her.  
She looks at me in grief, but ultimately nods.  
Dusk lets out a much louder scream and descends into unconsciousness.  
Svarline stares at him for a long time.  
I pull her into a hug. “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”  
She shakes her head. “Not your fault. We both wanted to save you, we just didn’t know what else to do.”  
I place a kiss on her forehead. “Thank you for bringing me back. I will repay this debt.”  
Svarline looks up at me. “You can repay us by not dying again, and by helping Dusk. He’s going to need help.”  
I nod. “He nearly gave his life for mine. I will teach him whatever he needs to learn.”  
Svarline nods. “Good.” She hesitates a moment before she leans into me.  
I almost pull back in surprise as her lips brush against mine, but control myself and return the kiss.  
She pulls back and regards me seriously. “I’m glad you’re not dead.” She pulls me into a tighter hug, and we stay like that for a long time. Watching over Dusk and each other.  
So am I Svarline. So am I.

(Interlude: Aela the Huntress)

Skjor and I had been outside the city for over two weeks by this point. Typically I would enjoy being outside the confines of the city with my lover, but he has been distant. Focused on our mission and nothing else. It makes sense I suppose. When all of Whiterun manages to piss off the dragonborn and her mate, people tend to panic.  
The first five days were spent walking Whiterun’s perimeter trying to find the direction Svarline and Dusk actually fled in. I’m not sure how they managed to run around the city multiple times while they were escaping, but it made our job much more difficult.  
Eventually, we found the trail and began following it. They were moving fast. Not only did they cover a large amount of ground quickly, but their passing stirred up the landscape something fierce.  
Burn marks on the grass, bushes that had been completely blown through, evidence of their flight could be found along the entire trail once we were sure we found the right scent.   
Suffice to say, once we found the trail, following it was far from difficult.   
“Aela.” Skjor says as we come to the bottom of a hill. “Do you smell that?”  
I inhale deeply and sense what he smells. “Fire.” I say.  
He nods. “Stay close.”  
The two of us silently creep up the hill in the direction of the smell. We crouch low and crest the hill to see what is burning.  
A little ways away from us is a burning building I recognize as the Hall of the Vigilant. I’ve only been to the place once, and hated every moment of it, but I can’t bring myself to think why someone would actually burn it down.  
A rush of motion catches my eye and I zero in on the location.  
An incredibly fast figure smalls a figure into a nearby wall, holding them up by their neck.  
“Vampires.” I say quietly.  
Skjor nods. “The question is, what do they want?”  
“Svar and Dusk’s trail leads here. Could the vamps be trying to find them?” I ponder.  
Skjor grips his chin. “If that is the case, we need to hurry. We can’t let the dragonborn be turned by vampires.”  
I glare at him. “She has a name Skjor, and you should be more worried about whether or not she’s still alive. The Hall of the Vigilant is full of mages and clerics. Vampires just burned down the headquarters of the most successful daedra hunters in the province. There’s something bigger going on here.”  
Skjor shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. We need to secure the dragonborn, and bring her home. That is our current objective. Everything else can wait.”  
I shake my head at him. “You need to learn to think Skjor. An organized vampire coven just assaulted the Hall of the Vigilant and won. We need to find out what they want.”  
Skjor turns to me with an iron gaze. “We leave now. Understood?”  
I growl at the display of dominance, but don’t argue. When he gets like this it’s pointless.  
“Fine.” I ground out.   
The two of us creep back down the hill, and move away from the burning building.  
“What now?” I fume at him.  
“We take a wide berth around the vampires. So long as we do not stray too far, we will pick up the dragonborn’s trail once more.”  
“And if Svarline and Dusk were in the Hall?” I ask through gritted teeth.  
Skjor’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Then we will have to fight the vampires.”  
He begins walking away, and I’m forced to follow him.  
I hope those two haven’t gotten themselves killed. I actually kinda liked them.

(Interlude: Sam Guevenne)

“No fair! She must’ve cheated! You can’t have four aces when there’s only eighteen in the deck!” My friend cries as he stands up in outrage.  
The jester places a hand against his heart, and regards my friend with a shocked expression. “You would dare insinuate that Mother cheated. Mother never cheats! Mother only ever wins!” The jester turns to his right. “Tell him Mother!”  
All three of us turn to the Jester’s right and await a response.  
The large wooden box continues to sit there. Doing absolutely nothing.  
The jester turns back to us with a wide smile. “You see! Mother didn’t cheat!”  
My friend sighs, and falls back into his chair. “Sammy boy, she’s kicking our ass. Pretty soon we’ll be out of gizmos!”  
I let out my own sigh and looked at the box. “How did you grow to be so good at cards? I’ve been playing cards for years and you’re still beating me. What’s your secret madam?”  
The box continues to do nothing.  
I smile. Of course she wouldn’t tell me her secrets. I never share mine either after all.  
I stretch out my muscles as I stand from my chair. “Sheo my friend, I do believe it is time we quit this game. If we play anymore, I’m certain we will leave here naked.”  
Although…  
I turn to look over at the serving girl from last time.  
She’s been watching us intently the entire evening. Doing any little job she can to keep us in sight.  
I give her a small smile, and wink at her.  
Her breath catches, and she hurries into the back room.  
My friend stands with a flourish. “Very well Sammy boy! To the nakedness we go!” He charges from the bar.  
I hear an echoing *woop* as he slowly gets further away.  
I turn to face the box once more and give it a bow. “Until we meet again my lady. Tonight has been a most pleasurable experience due to your company.”  
The box continues to do absolutely nothing.  
Ha, speechless. I’ve still got it.  
I place another large coin purse on the table for the serving girl, and follow my friend into the night.  
We might’ve lost everything we found while playing Jack-a-Roo, but it was worth it for such an enjoyable evening.  
I wonder what we’ll get up to next?


	15. 15

I’m hungry, and my chest hurts. Scratch that, my everything hurts. What the fuck happened?  
I slowly open my eyes, and immediately close them again.  
Christ it’s bright! I thought we were underground!  
I try to sit up, but I feel a hand press into my chest and gently force me back down.   
Gentle or not, it hurts like a bitch.  
“Lie still.” I hear Serana’s voice from above me. “You are safe.”  
“Wha… appen?” I croak, my eyes still closed.   
Damn I’m thirsty.  
“Later.” The vampiress responds. “For now, drink.”  
Something wet presses against my mouth, and I part my lips to drink the offered water.  
Wow, water tastes really good when you’re thirsty.  
I slurp up the drink. Desperately trying to wet my parched throat.  
I hear a hiss of pain, and the drink is pulled away.   
Huh, I actually feel a lot better now. Cool.  
“That is all I can spare. You will have to endure for a short while longer, but do not worry. I have a plan in place.” Serana says.  
I feel her stand and move a little away from me with my soul magic.  
Slowly, I open my eyes. Letting them adjust to whatever light blinded me last time. Looking to my right, I see a torch hanging on the wall.  
Seriously? I got flash-banged by a torch? How long was I out?  
That’s actually a really good question.  
I rise up to a sitting position so I can better look at my surroundings. I’m lying on a restored fur bed that’s in a destroyed room. The far wall collapsed inward at some point, and there’s rubble and rusted metal littering the floor.   
Serana stands in a deteriorated doorway as she analyzes me.   
I turn my head to face her. “How long was I out?” I ask.  
“Almost two days' time.” She responds calmly. “We are still in Labyrinthian as is apparent, but Svarline and myself have taken turns eliminating any undead that strayed too close to your location.”   
For probably the first time since I’ve met her, she breaks eye contact with me, and looks to the ground. It’s almost as if she’s… uncomfortable? What the hell happened while I was out?  
“What happened?” I verbally echo my internal question.  
She straightens her back, and reestablishes eye contact. “Thank you Dusk.” She begins genuinely, catching me slightly off guard. “Without your actions, I would assuredly be dead. You very nearly died trying to save me.” She stops herself, and starts walking up to me.  
I let her close the distance as I processed the fact I nearly died.  
She stops less than a foot from me, and holds my gaze. “Thank you.” She repeats. She leans forward and wraps her arms around me. Pulling me into a kiss.  
I hesitate for a brief moment, before I pull away.  
Serana looks at me confused and… hurt?  
“You already know Serana. I’m with Svar.” I say gently.  
Serana’s eyes light up as she laughs softly. “The two of us have discussed things. I care for both of you, you obviously care for both of us, and Svarline cares for both you and I. So long as you can agree to this arrangement, I see no issue with it.” She looks at me questioningly.  
I need to clear this with Svar, but if she’s alright with it.  
I wrap an arm around Serana and kiss her softly.  
Serana smiles against my lips, and presses herself against me. She forces her tongue past my lips. She licks along my tongue, along my te…  
I have fangs.  
I gently pull away once more, and look Serana in the eyes.  
She seems surprised at me suddenly extricating myself from her arms a second time, but she recovers quickly.  
“I have fangs.” I say to her.  
Her features harden. “Yes, you do.”  
“You turned me.”  
She doesn’t noticeably react. “Yes, I did.”  
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I open them again and focus on her. “I would have died if you hadn’t turned me.” I state.  
She nods in confirmation.  
“Thank you.” I say seriously.  
Serana allows herself a smile. “You are welcome.” She moves forward once more, and our lips meet again.  
We stay locked together for a long while. This time, Serana is the one to pull away.  
“I will inform Svarline that you are awake. She has been beside herself with worry.” She walks towards the door, and turns around at the threshold. “Thank you again Dusk. You very well could have left me to die. Instead, you risked yourself for me, and will now be forever changed as a result. I will not forget that.” She about faces and walks from the room.  
I take a deep breath, and sit heavily back onto the bed.  
I was not expecting this. What the hell does this even mean?

[I can help with that Gamer!]

Race Changed!  
[Vampire Lord]   
Immortal undead creatures of the night who persist by devouring the blood of the living.  
Vampires grow more powerful by devouring blood, aging, and feasting upon powerful foes.  
You do not require air, food, rest, or drink(aside from blood)  
Your senses are much more acutely tuned than those of a mere mortal.  
You possess sharp claws and fangs which can be utilized in combat.  
You gain access to hemomancy.  
All stats receive a one-time increase of 75 stat points  
HP, MP, and SP regen receive a permanent increase of x1.5  
You are 50% resistant to frost damage.  
You are 175% weaker to holy damage.  
You are 125% weaker to damage inflicted by silver, and HP, MP, and SP regen are reduced by half when struck by silver.  
You are 100% weaker to fire damage.  
You are 30% weaker when exposed to direct sunlight, and HP, MP, and SP regen are reduced to one-fourth normal when exposed to direct sunlight.

Unique perk gained!  
[True Daughter’s Childe]  
You were turned by a Daughter of Coldharbour. The purest vampires on Nirn. You are stronger, and will grow in power much more quickly than your brethren.  
You start with more powers than a typical vampire, and your transformation to vampirism is much more empowering than normal.

Vampiric Powers

[True Form]  
As a Vampire Lord, you possess a greater form which increases all stats by x5, and HP, MP, and SP by x2. Your hemomancy’s effectiveness is increased by x3 while in this form as well.

[Summon Gargoyle]  
Summon a stone gargoyle to fight for you. Can only be used 3 times a day.

[Vampiric Seduction]  
Toy with the minds of mortals, forcing humanoids to see you as they would their true love. Mortals under the effect of Vampiric Seduction will be fanatically devoted to you. Making them do just about anything for you. May only be used on a single target at a time.

[Nightstalker’s Footsteps]  
You are 25% harder to detect while sneaking

[Enthrall]  
Create a vampiric thrall by letting a mortal willingly taste of your blood. Thralls will do your bidding without question, but still maintain their old beliefs/values.

[Alternate Form]  
Vampire lords may shift into a variety of different forms  
Available forms; Mist, Bat, Bat Swarm, Rat, Raven

[Embrace of Shadows]  
Become invisible at will. May only be invisible for an accumulative 5 hours per day.

Hemomancy proficiency gained!  
You are as proficient in hemomancy as a beginner in the discipline.

[Vampiric Drain]  
Cost varies  
Drain the target’s blood, damaging them while healing yourself

[Control Blood]  
Cost varies  
Control the movements of blood

[Enhance]  
Costs 150 MP  
Imbue the blood of your allies, or your own blood with mana to alter various aspects of the target to your will.

[Blood Scourge]  
Costs 300 MP  
Infect the target’s blood with disease, dealing 20 magic damage per second until healed, or death. Passes to other targets who come into contact with the infected blood

[Blood Seed]  
Costs 75 MP  
Harden’s the target’s bone into sharp spikes that shoot out of the target’s body. Dealing 5 magic damage per spike.

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 194  
Class- Saber - LVL 95/100 [12%]  
Crafting Class- N/A [0%]  
Race- Vampire Lord  
Tier- Immortal  
Alignment- True Neutral  
HP- 15060 [4518 per minute]  
MP- 18220 [13665 per minute]  
SP- 15060 [4518 per minute]  
STR- 749  
END- 753  
DEX - 555  
INT - 911  
WIS - 911  
CHA - 515  
LUK - 519  
MP Regen= WIS x (10x1.5)=15  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x (4x1.5)=6  
SP/HP= END x 20

For reaching 700 STR you have gained a perk!  
Bladesmen  
Sword strikes are 50% faster, and deal 10% more damage

For reaching 700 END you have gained a perk!  
Sated 2.0  
You require half as much blood as a typical vampire

For reaching 500 DEX you have gained a perk!  
Wall Run  
Your vampiric power synergizes with your natural dexterity, allowing you to walk on walls and ceilings. Defying gravity.

For reaching 900 INT you have gained a perk  
Magus  
You are able to use any magical items/artifacts. Regardless of their requirements.

For reaching 900 WIS you have gained a perk!  
Learner  
Skills learned through [Broken Limiter] are now learned at 7 times the pace of a normal human

For reaching 500 CHA you have gained a perk!  
Sweet Talker  
You have a silver tongue that can convince weaker minded people to do what you want. So long as you do not press too far.

For reaching 500 LUK you have gained a perk!  
Felix times two  
Felix Felices is now twice as effective.

Holy crap that’s a lot.  
I read through the notifications a second time. My mouth pulled into a wider grin by the second.  
There are some pretty major weaknesses associated with this little change, but they are so worth it. I’m freaking immortal now! I essentially got a hemomancy class, roughly 15 level ups, and a crapload of powers for free.  
Looking over everything a third time, I cringe a little.  
Pyromancers, witchers, and clerics just became my least favorite people ever.   
Ok, so maybe I didn’t really get all that stuff for free. The weaknesses are actually pretty damn worrying, but so long as I watch my ass I should be ok. I’m weak as all hell to some very specific damage types, but since they’re so specific I can figure out a way around that. Between Godspeed and my lightning form I should be good for now, but I need to look into some better defensive options.  
I guess I could abuse that masochism perk I got to reduce the various weaknesses by thirty percent, but I’ll still be taking an insane amount of damage from this stuff. I’ll think it over later.  
Sunlight also isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Direct sunlight is pretty easy to beat. You just need a cloak or something else that can give you a little shade. Guess that’s why Serana only ever wore a hood in the game. Real Serana will probably have some pointers for me dodging sunlight, so that’s kind of low on the priority list right now.  
Deciding to worry about the weaknesses later, I look back through all the perks and powers.  
I was right. The weaknesses are worth it. I’ve got a whole list of new powers, and my combat effectiveness just increased roughly twofold. Hell, my out of combat effectiveness increased a lot too. I’ve got new stealth abilities, and Vampire’s Seduction. If I can creatively use those two, I can probably avoid any serious conflict in major settlements. Just get in, grab whatever I need, and get out.  
Wait…   
Oh shit.  
Oh fuck.  
I’m a vampire.  
I’m a vampire in The Elder Scrolls.  
I’m a fucking vampire in The fucking Elder Scrolls!  
Molag fucking Bal gets my soul when I die!  
I close my eyes for a moment, and take a deep breath to calm myself. I may not need air, but this is the only way I really know how to relax.  
Ok, let's think this over logically. The best way to avoid Molag is to just not die. For now, I should be able to manage that. Hell, even if something worse then the dragons shows up, Svar, Serana, and I can just run.  
Maybe I can just hide from him somehow? I remember there was that one vampire guy in ESO who managed to pull it off. What was his name? I don’t remember.  
On second thought, that’s not going to work. If I remember correctly, that guy’s quest line ended with him willingly going to Molag Bal for whatever reason.  
Damn I really wish my perfect memory extended back to my past life.  
Ok, other options? Lamae Bal got away with blowing up Molag’s shrines, so maybe she knows a way to get free?  
But that option opens a whole can of worms I want nothing to do with. First I’d have to find the woman who just so happens to be one of the strongest vampires in Nirn’s history, then I’d have to make it through her army’s worth of children, then I’d have to convince her to tell me how she got free of Molag Bal. This is all assuming she even has a way free of him, and that she’s still alive. It’s possible she was offed at some point between the Planemeld and now.  
I let out a long sigh.  
That option is out. Ok, maybe I could do something with an Elder Scroll? Or maybe something with Auriel’s Bow? I don’t know.  
The easiest way is probably just to get cured, but if Movarth controls Morthal, then Falion’s either dead or turned. Which essentially means that isn’t even an option.  
I take another deep breath to calm down.  
For now, it looks like I’m stuck like this. I don’t have an easy way out, so I’ll have to figure something out later. Vizier is almost available again, so I can use that to get information. I only need to wait three days.  
Not the best plan, but it’s the only one I’ve got. Until then, I’ll give this vampire thing a try. If I like it, I’ll ask for a way to free myself from Molag Bal. If I don’t like it, I’ll ask for a way to cure myself. Simple.   
I hear footsteps. Someone’s running.  
I turn to look out the door, and wait. The footsteps grow progressively louder as they get closer. Vampiric ears are quite sensitive to sound.  
A wide-eyed Svarline charges through the door, and her gaze instantly finds mine. Her features go from panicked to relieved as soon as she sees me sitting on the bed.  
I stand up and look at her. “Hey.” Wow that felt pathetic.  
Her features harden and she glares at me. “Hey?!” She practically screams. “You almost die, and you say hey?!” She walks forward and sixth sense triggers.  
I don’t move, letting her fist connect with my jaw. Huh, expected that to hurt more than it did. She must be playing nice.  
“You terrified me you moron! You said you’d be fine!”  
I grimace. “I thought I would be.” Ok Dusk, really need to put down the shovel buddy.  
Smoke starts to rise from her shoulders as she fumes. “I am five seconds away from melting you.”  
I look her in the eyes. “I’m sorry Svar. We didn’t have a lot of options, and between the two of us I was the only one who could’ve made it. You’d have died if we had traded places. Sorry I almost died, but I’m not apologizing for helping Serana.”  
Svar stares at me for a moment longer, and tears start to gather in her eyes. She slowly walks forward and pulls me into a tight hug.   
Neither of us moves for a long time.  
“You’re not allowed to die. If you die, I’ll kill you.” She says into my shoulder.  
I chuckle softly. “I won’t.”  
“I’m glad you’re not dead.” She says seriously.  
“Me too.”  
She takes a deep breath and pulls back. She wipes a tear from her eye, then gives me a quick peck on the lips. She takes a deep breath and motions for me to follow her.  
“Come on.” She says. “We found some stuff while you were asleep, and we could use that information spell you’ve got.”  
I nod, and follow her out of the room.  
“May not be the best time,” I begin as we walk. “but Serana made a move on me. She said you approved of an open relationship, so is she fucking with us again? Or did the two of you actually talk things out?”  
“We talked.” Svar says. “I like you, and I like her. I made it clear that the two of us won’t just be sharing you. If she wanted in, she had to like me too.”  
“And?” I prompt.  
She gives me a smirk over her shoulder. “And she pinned me up against a wall and made out with me. It was pretty hot, you could’ve watched if you hadn’t almost died.”  
I nod, shutting up, and we continue walking.  
Guess that answers that question.  
We walk through a few hallways until we come to a storage room with two nether liches playing sentinel at its entrance.  
I hesitate slightly as we approach. “Those are Serana’s right?” I ask Svar.  
She raises an eyebrow at me. “No, they just decided not to kill us yet because they’re nice beings of pure concentrated hatred.”  
I sigh and follow her into the room.  
The room, like the rest of Labyrinthian, is in ruins. The wooden furniture and supports have rotted, the floor is uneven, and the walls are collapsing. However, in this room there is an almost pristine rectangular table situated in the middle of the room. Svar must have fixed it up with her alteration magic like she did the bed they put me in.  
Serana stands at the table and looks down at the various objects that lay atop it.  
“Is that Yamato?” I ask as I approach.  
Serana nods, and holds said artifact, as well as another sword out to me. “And your hound’s sword. You did not return them to your storage space before you fell unconscious, so we kept them with the other artifacts in this room to keep them safe.”  
I take the blades back with a nod of thanks, and return them to my inventory. “So what have we got?” I ask as I turn to the table.  
The things that catch my eye first are the Staff of Magnus and Morokei’s mask.   
I turn to look at Svar. “Why did you just leave these on a table? The Staff is kind of one of a kind.”  
She raises another eyebrow at me. “Where were we supposed to put it? Not everyone has a magical nowhere they can pull random bullshit from.”   
I suppose that’s fair.  
I turn back to the table and see three other objects. A ring, a small golden knife, and a pair of boots.  
I turn to Serana. “Couldn’t you figure out what this stuff does?”  
She hums. “Given an hour or two with each item, yes. However, that is a waste of time when you can accomplish the same feet in but a moment.”  
I shrug and pick up the mask first.

Morokei  
Mythic Item  
Mana regenerates 100% faster while equipped

Ring of the Lich  
Uncommon Item  
Necromancy is 15% more powerful

Dragon Priest’s Dagger  
Common Item  
Deals STR + 5 Slashing/Piercing damage per hit  
Absorbs 10 MP from the target per hit

Boots of Rejuvenating  
Common Item  
Stamina regeneration is increased by 5 SP per minute

Huh, that took a lot out of me. Why am I so tired all of a sudden?  
I shake my head to clear it and pick up the ring. I turn to Serana, and toss her the ring. “You’re the only one of us who can use that. It buffs your necromancy. The dagger and boots suck, but we can use them as batteries for something else I guess. The mask makes your mana replenish twice as fast.”  
“So nothing I can use?” Svar asks, sounding disappointed.  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You could use the mask.” I say.  
She shakes her head. “It’s not as useful to me as it would be to one of you. Alteration magic isn’t all that expensive when you know what you’re doing, and the thu’um doesn’t really use mana. I was hoping to find something I could use in this place.”  
I tilt my head. “I mean, you could use the boots and knife, but it’s just not worth it.” An idea comes to me, and I pull an item from my inventory. “But,” I say, drawing her attention back to me. “I pulled something out of my ass the other day you might like.” I toss her a ring.  
She catches it and turns it over in her hands a few times. “What is it?”  
“Ring of invisibility.” I answer. “It basically lets you turn invisible at will. You can still be smelled and heard, but not seen.”  
She grins and puts it on. She disappears for a second, and I hear her walking closer. I wait until she’s a foot away, before poking her on the forehead.  
She reappears with a frown.  
Serana smiles at her. “As Dusk said, invisibility is far from unbeatable. It is a great tool, but do not rely overmuch on it.”  
Svar nods to her, then turns back to me. “Thanks.” She says.  
I smile. “No problem.”  
Svar turns back to the table. “You’ve gone over just about everything, but what about the Staff?” She asks.  
I gently pick it up and look at the orb. “It absorbs magic. That much I’m pretty sure you already knew, but it also absorbs the life force of the target, and empowers the wielder depending on how much mana is stored within it. I’m pretty sure there’s some more esoteric properties, but I can’t determine them.”  
Serana hums. “What leads you to believe there are abilities that you are unable to reveal?”  
I shrug and pull Yamato from my inventory. “This.” I say holding it up next to the Staff. “I know of quite a few people who used this sword before me, and they were able to pull off some insane shit with it. You already know my ability isn’t perfect from when I used it on you, so there could be more to the Staff than I’m able to pick up.” I put Yamato back in my inventory, and gingerly set the Staff back on the table.  
Observe isn’t perfect. It’s a great tool, but it can’t pick up on some things. I’m willing to bet that Magnus’s staff is probably one of those things. I might experiment with the Staff a little later to see if my theory is right.  
Svar looks at me curiously. “What else can Yamato do? If cutting through ghosts is one of the less interesting things, then I want to know the interesting stuff.”  
I chuckle. “It involves getting into a really long drawn out story. I’ll tell you about it when we get back to Sky Haven. For now though, I want to get the hell out of this place.”  
“Not yet.” Serana says firmly, but not coldly. “It is currently noon, and you are a freshly turned vampire. It is better we leave at night. The sun will not be present, and you will be able to hunt. You have not fed enough. A situation we must remedy quickly.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Can’t you just teleport us back?”  
She nods patiently. “Yes, but there are few sources of blood near the Temple. The nearest encampment I have found with my undead is well over eight miles away, and it would put us too close to Morthal for my liking. I would prefer to avoid confronting Movarth’s children unless he forces our hand.”  
I nod. “I guess that makes sense, but do I really need blood that badly?”  
Serana’s eyes narrow. “Yes.” She states with certainty. “It is a miracle you are on your feet. All you have drank is what I have been able to spare. Both of us must feed soon, or we will starve.”  
I raise my hands placatingly. “Alright, you’re the vampire expert. I’m going to go lie back down. Come get me when it’s time to hunt.”  
I leave the room and make my way back to the room I woke up in, being careful to watch for any unfriendly undead that might be wandering the halls.  
I summon Mr. Rogers when I get back to my room, and scratch his ears. “Hey bud.”  
He nuzzles his head against my arm and whines sadly.  
“I know. Don’t worry though, I’m fine. Here.” I pull his sword out and give it to him. “I’m going to go back to sleep. Can you make sure nothing comes and kills me while I do?”  
He bobs his head up and down. His sword catching awkwardly on the wall in the process.  
I laugh softly. “Good boy.” I pat his head one last time and lie down.  
Wow I feel really weak all of a sudden. I’m also thirsty as all hell.  
I close my eyes, and lean back against the pillows.   
Night better get here fast. This sucks.

I wake feeling like my throat is on fire.  
I gasp, and roll out of the bed.  
My eyes dash side to side as I search for anything with which to quench my thirst.  
“Dusk.” A voice says from the doorway.  
I snap my head towards the sound and lunge.  
I grasp nothing but silvery mist as I fall to the ground. A heavy weight comes to rest against my back, and the same voice hisses down from above me.  
“Control yourself. You need only wait a little longer.”  
I close my eyes and grit my teeth.  
Come on, am I really going to let a little bit of thirst be what finishes me off?  
I relax, and the weight lifts itself off of me.  
“Good.” Serana says. “Stand and come with me. We have no time to spare.”  
I pull myself to my feet and walk over to her. “Where are we going?” I ask.  
“A bird I raised has located a camp of bandits. We are going to pay them a visit, and drain every single one of them.” She answers matter of factly.  
I feel a sense of anticipation creep to the front of my being, and pause a moment.  
I turn to Serana. “Is it normal that I’m looking forward to slaughtering a bunch of people I’ve never met?”  
She nods. “Yes. In time, you will develop more control, but for now it is normal.”  
I shrug. Nothing personal random bandits, but I’m hungry.  
I look at Serana. “Lets go.”  
She smiles at me, baring her fangs. She holds a hand out and creates one of her portals. She walks forward, and I follow her through.  
We emerge on the edge of a sheer cliff that looks out over a forest. My new eyes zero in on a speck of light far away from us.  
“While we are both parched, now is the best time to teach you of your new abilities.” Serana says softly from my side. “Every vampire has traits they share, but the stronger of us have abilities unavailable to lesser vampires.”  
Serana turns to look me in the eye. “You were turned by a Daughter of Coldharbour. Not just any Daughter, but me. I will not have my first Childe be an embarrassment. You will be strong, even if I must force greatness from you.” She says with a gleam in her eye.  
Wait, back up.  
“You haven’t turned anyone?” I ask.  
She tilts her chin up and looks at me. “No. None were worthy of my gift.”  
I raise an unbelieving eyebrow. “And I was?”  
She hums. “We shall see. Follow me.” Her form shrinks down on itself, and feathers begin to sprout from her skin. In a moment, she has gone from a woman, to a beautiful great horned owl. She hoots at me and flies off in the direction of the camp.  
Guess she never showed Svar and I all her tricks after all. I kind of figured as much.  
I use my new power to change my form. I feel my bones and muscles changing, but it doesn’t cause me any pain. Slower than Serana's transformation, but still quite fast, I have changed into my raven form.  
As I have just discovered, flying with actual wings is much more involved than just deciding not to fall, so it takes me about forty-five seconds even with vampiric instincts to figure out what I’m doing before I can fly after the owl.  
I chase after Serana for what feels like forever. Each wingbeat reminded me just how thirsty I am. I see Serana’s owl form descend a few hundred yards from the fire, and follow her to the ground.  
By the time I land, Serana has changed back. “You continue to adapt quickly.” She says. “Good. Now continue after me.” Her form shimmers, then disappears entirely.   
I change back and listen for her, but can’t hear her movements. I fall back on my soul magic, and feel her soul slowly moving away from me. I activate Embrace of Shadows and follow her towards the camp. I do my best to stay quiet, but I can hear some of my own movements, which means Serana definitely can.  
I feel Serana stop at the edge of a clearing, and kneel down next to her.  
“You are not a good person Dusk.” She whispers into my ear.  
I narrow my eyes at her, knowing she can’t see me. “I never claimed to be.” I quietly say back. “What does that have to do with anything?”  
She rests a hand on my shoulder. “Because you are also not an evil person. You do not enjoy the suffering of others, but you are willing to inflict suffering on others. You are not like Harkon, but you are still willing to do what must be done. If you and I do not kill everyone in this camp, we will die. We need more blood than just one of them can provide. Are you willing to slaughter people whom you have never met in order to preserve your own life?”  
I growl at her. “What the fuck is the point of your little mind game here?” I say slightly louder.  
Serana’s invisible form moves until her face is inches from my own. “I turned you into a monster Dusk.” She says sadly. “You must play the part, but you must not let it change you overmuch. I turned you not only because you saved me, but because I believed you can overcome the lust for power that consumed Harkon. Prove me right.”  
There is a gust of wind as she speeds towards the camp at vampiric speeds. I hesitate only a second before I follow after her.  
I cross over a hundred yards in moments using my new speed as I enter the camp. I hear a scream, and look over.  
Serana has a bulky nord male in her arms. Her fangs dig deep into his neck as he cries out in pain.  
I see and smell his blood, and almost go crazy. I hear footsteps to my left, and snap to look over.  
A blond breton woman is charging towards Serana with an axe drawn.  
I run up behind her and sink my fangs into her neck. Becoming visible as soon as I grab her.  
With my fangs firmly planted within her neck, I begin to drain her. Savoring the taste of her blood.  
She tries to bring her axe around to strike me, but I shove her arm away and continue to feast.  
She flails a little more, but starts to slow. A moment longer, and she stops struggling all together.  
I drain the last of her blood, and let her drop to the ground. I look at her still form for a moment while I contemplate what just happened.  
“Do you regret it?” Serana asks, suddenly standing at my side.  
“No.” I respond.  
“Did you enjoy it?”  
“No.”  
She nods. “Good, but we are not done yet.”  
The two of us turn to look towards the tents that are being thrown open. The screams of the man Serana fed upon finally moving people into action.  
The two of us charge together, and continue our feast.

The sun is beginning to rise when we’ve gathered up everything of value from the camp. I’ve stored the bodies we drained in my inventory for Serana’s necromancy, and taken all of their weapons. The three that we didn’t drain still went in the inventory, but I’m not taking them out unless we have another emergency like the one that caused this whole situation. Aside from their weapons, they had some gold, but nothing else notable.  
“We should go before the sun rises.” Serana says as she walks up to me.  
“No.” I say. “I’ll feel its effects eventually. I’d rather do that here, in a controlled environment, than in combat.”  
Serana regards me for a moment before nodding. “Very well then.” She walks up next to me, and we watch the sunrise together.  
I hiss when the rays come into contact with my exposed skin. It doesn’t exactly hurt, but it just feels wrong. The light touching my skin feels as if it’s slowly draining my power, which I guess it is really.  
I take a cloak from my inventory, and put it on. The wrongness fades, and my strength returns.  
“If all it takes to beat the sun is a cloak,” I say. “then why don’t all vampires walk around during the day?”  
Serana chuckles. “Because vampires like Harkon are arrogant assholes, and it takes more than a cloak for the vast majority of weaker vampires to resist the sun.” She says. “You were turned by me, and I am likely one of the strongest vampires in Nirn. If you were turned by a vampire as old as Movarth, the sun would be crippling to you. Cloak or not. If you were turned by one of his children, it is likely the sun would harm or outright kill you. The more diluted a vampire’s blood, the weaker they are.”  
I nod. “Makes sense.” I turn to face her. “Ready to go?”  
“In a moment.” She hums.  
She walks around me so she is facing the sun, and her features harden. “You saved my life Dusk. Very few can claim to have done the same, and the majority of them betrayed me at one point or another.”  
I narrow my eyes at her. “Are you asking if I’m going to stab you in the back? Warning me that’s a bad idea?”  
The corner of her lip pulls up, and her features relax. “No. In the time I’ve known you, it has become apparent to me the lengths you would go to for those you care for. While we have had something of a strange relationship, I am now certain you count me among that number. No, I am not threatening you, I am explaining my actions.”  
She pauses for a moment before continuing. “As I told you, I have never turned anyone. However, I did not tell you the reason. That reason was cowardice. Would you like to guess what it is I’m afraid of?” She looks at me expectantly.  
Didn’t expect this.  
Honestly, without even thinking it over too much I’ve got a pretty good idea.  
“Your sperm donor.” I say. “I’d guess he has something to do with it.”  
She smiles brightly at me. “Correct. Quite clever of you.” Her features darken, and she holds my gaze. “Harkon is a blight upon this world. The man craves power over all else. He doesn’t have the foresight to realize the consequences of his actions, and even if he did, I doubt he would care. I have never turned anyone for fear they would turn out just like him, and leave me with one more incredibly powerful megalomaniac I need to kill.”  
She moves forward a step and continues. “You saved my life Dusk, and in the short time we’ve been together I have grown quite fond of you, but do not walk the path he walked.”  
She moves forward until we are but a foot away from each other, her crimson eyes boring into my own.  
Her voice is ice cold as she speaks. “This is a warning, and a threat. I saved you because I refused to watch you die, but if you take my gift and use it as Harkon has, I will kill you. It may take thousands of years, but I will find a way to destroy you. Nirn cannot suffer two Harkons.”  
I hold her gaze, but don’t respond. I can’t really think of a good way to reply to that. On the one hand, I’m totally behind that notion. Death to all Harkons and all that good stuff. On the other hand though, she just threatened to kill me if I act a certain way. I don’t really know how I want to react.  
Her features break slightly, and she continues in a quieter voice. “Do not do that to yourself Dusk. Do not do that to Svarline.” She steps closer, and gently places a hand on my cheek. “Do not do that to me.”  
This is probably the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen the woman. She’s taken off whatever mask she normally wears, and looks as if she’s genuinely pleading with me.  
I hold her gaze and nod. “I won’t.” I say with certainty. I don’t plan on slaughtering people for shits and giggles. If I don’t have a reason to want them dead, and they don’t screw with me, I won’t screw with them.  
She searches my features for a moment longer, before she allows herself a small smile. “Good.” She wraps her hand around the back of my neck and pulls me in for a kiss.  
I wrap my arms around her and return the kiss.  
She pulls away first, and hums contentedly.  
“Come.” She says. “I’m sure Svarline is growing more worried by the second.” She waves her hand, and a portal opens in front of us.  
I nod at her, and the two of us walk through.  
On the other side, we are greeted by Svar.  
She is pacing in the room where her and Serana kept the Staff, and seems to have been waiting for us.  
She turns to glare at Serana. “You’re late. You were supposed to get here before the sun came up.”  
Serana motions to me. “Dusk insisted we stay so he could feel how the sun now affects him.”  
I nod to Svar. “Better now, than in the middle of a fight.”  
Svar holds my gaze for a moment, and sighs. “Fine, but don’t push yourself too hard right now. You nearly died.”  
I nod. “I won’t. We’ve got some time to lie low now. I’ll probably work on the portal, and not do too much else.”  
“Good.” Svar says. She reaches down to the table and hands Morokei and the Staff of Magnus out to me. “Put these in your storage space. They’re safer there than in the open.”  
I take the artifacts and inventory them.  
“Are we ready to go then?” Serana asks calmly.  
“Not yet.” I say, and give a whistle.  
A moment passes, then Mr. Rogers trots into the room with his sword in his mouth. A dead skeever skewered on it’s blade like a kebab.   
I don’t ask.  
I turn to Serana. “Ready.”  
She nods and opens another portal. The four of us step through and find ourselves in the foyer of Sky Haven.  
“Let's never go back there.” Svar says tiredly.  
“Agreed.” Serana and I say in unison.  
Serana turns to me. “There is more the two of us must do to teach you of your new powers, but that can wait until later. When you are available, I will be working on the portal. The wispmother components if you would?” She holds out her hand.  
Huh, I totally forgot about the wispmother.  
I shake my head and pull everything out. Handing her what she can carry, and giving Mr. Rogers the rest to take with her.  
“Thank you.” Serana says with a nod, then she walks up to Svar and studies her. “Get some rest, Svarline. You desperately need it.” She gives Svar a quick kiss, then turns and walks away.  
“Come on.” Svar speaks up from my side. She begins walking and motions for me to follow her.  
I fall in step beside her, and raise an eyebrow. “I’m guessing it’s not much of a mystery where we’re going.” I say.  
“To bed.” She says exhausted. “I’ve been awake for 48 consecutive hours by this point, so I’m fucking tired. I don’t care that you don’t need sleep. I do, and I want to cuddle.”  
Well when you put it like that…  
We get back to our room, and Svar pulls her armor off before she collapses onto the bed.  
I take my own armor off, then lie down next to her. She wraps her arms around me as soon as I lie down.  
“Don’t ever scare me like that again.” She mumbles into my shoulder.  
“I won’t. You’ll kill me remember?” I say as I pull her close.  
She lets out a relaxed sigh. “Yep.”  
We lay in silence for a while, and I begin to think Svar has fallen asleep.  
“Dusk,” She speaks up quietly. “I love you, so don’t leave me. I’m not sure what I’d do if I lost you, but it wouldn’t be good.”  
I smile happily, and rub her head. “I love you too, so you’re not allowed to die either. Got it?”  
She hums, and snuggles closer. “Got it.” She says.  
We lie there for a few more minutes, and Svar speaks back up. “I can’t go to sleep.” She laments. “I’m tired but I can’t sleep.”  
“Is there anything I can do?” I ask.  
“Tell me a story. That used to help me back when my mother was still alive.”  
I think for a moment, and smile. “You wanted to know what Yamato can do right?”  
I feel her nod.  
“Well,” I quietly begin. “it’s from another world. A world where demons constantly assault the world. Kind of like what happened in the Oblivion Crisis, except much more frequent. The sword’s first wielder was a demon lord named Sparda....”

I wake up to a shove on my shoulder.  
“Hey.” Svar says. “Paarthurnax called me, so I gotta go. Don’t push yourself too hard for a little while ok?”  
I sit up and look over at her. “Don’t worry Svar. I’m fine now, but I will take it slow. Enjoy your training.”  
She gives me a light kiss on the cheek, and leaves the room.  
I stand after she leaves, and exit as well. I walk through the halls until I come to the portal room. I walk in, and find Serana shifting various gems around on her work table.  
“Did you rest well Dusk?” She asks without looking over.  
“I didn’t need it, but Svar did, so I’d say yes.”  
She nods. “Good. She also suffered heavily from our battle with the dragon priest, but she refused to recover as long as you were unconscious.” Serana casts one final spell, and leaves her station.  
“Come with me.” She says, and opens a portal.  
I follow her through, and the two of us emerge into a large cavern.  
“Where the hell are we?” I ask as I look around.  
“Part of a cave system that is connected to Sky Haven. One of my undead found this location before we left for Labyrinthian. I believe it will make for a good place to experiment, but first, take this.” She holds out a thick black cloak similar to her own.  
I take a moment to observe the cloak.

Enchanted Cloak  
Uncommon Item  
This cloak is enchanted to be extremely durable, as well as provide more shade than normal

I look back up at Serana. “Thank you.” I say as I put it on.  
She waves me off. “Think nothing of it. I had time to enchant it while you and Svarline slept, and decided you should receive the same protection I have made for myself. However, if you find something better I expect you to share.” She says with a smile.  
I nod. “If I figure something else out, I’ll let you know.”  
She nods and clears her throat. “Now, before we begin, do you have any questions you want answered?”  
“Yes actually.” I respond.  
She nods patiently. “Ask them.”  
“Ok number one, can I feed off animals in a pinch? Number two, do holy symbols or holy water have any effect on us? Three, are we able to go places without being invited?” I ask. Hitting the most common vampire cliches I can think of.  
Serana hums. “To the first, yes. I would not recommend it, as animal blood is not near as satiatinging as humanoid blood, but if you are desperate, it will work fine. To the second, true holy water is a blight on our kind, but it is quite rare. Most ‘holy water’ you come across will be fake, and therefore harmless. Practice caution until you know whether or not your opponent possesses true holy water. Holy symbols on the other hand, are useless on their own. The symbol itself is nothing but a piece of wood, stone, or metal. In the hands of a true believer of the faith however, they become a potent weapon against our kind. The symbol doesn’t matter you see, it is simply a focus for the believer’s faith. It’s quite difficult to deal with a zealot armed with a holy symbol. To the third, no. It is a legend that holds no basis in reality. Weaker vampires may be subject to such a weakness, but you and I are not. Do you have any other questions?”  
I shake my head. “No that covers it. Thanks.”  
She waves me off again. “Thanks are unnecessary. It is my responsibility to teach you of your new nature.” She smiles. “In the interest of pursuing that goal, change into your vampire lord form. You have seen my own, and I’m sure your knowledge provides you some information about it, but I value experience higher than I value academic knowledge.”  
I nod, and close my eyes.  
Once again, my body changes. This time however, instead of shrinking, I grow. I rise up to just under seven feet, my muscles bulge, and two leathery bat wings emerge from my back. My skin grows paler, and my jaw widens. Sharp fangs replace what used to be my teeth.  
Serana hums. “Your progress is impressive. Now, move about the space. You are stronger, faster, and your hemomancy is more effective in this form. You must grow accustomed to the increase in power, otherwise the form will be more of a hindrance in combat than a benefit.”  
I do as she says and begin sprinting around the space. An instant passes, and I end up in a wall. I peel myself out of the newly formed crevice to the sound of laughter behind me.  
“That is why you are training Dusk.” Serana says jovially. “Take it slow, and do not rush. I’m certain you will adjust quickly.”  
For the next forty-five minutes or so, I gradually increase my movement speed around the cavern. I fly, run, and walk on the walls in order to better control my new transformation.   
Serana would occasionally throw spikes of ice at me to dodge, or give pointers when I mess up.  
“Come down, and change back.” She says. “It is time to familiarise you with blood magic.”  
I fly down from where I stand on the ceiling, and change back to normal while she waits patiently. It’s a weird feeling to suddenly be significantly weaker than I was a moment ago, but I get over it quickly enough.  
Once I have returned to normal, Serana paces back and forth as she begins a lecture. “Hemomancy, much like necromancy and soul magic, is considered a ‘dark’, or ‘evil’ magic. Since you are not a simpleton, you understand that magic is not inherently good or bad. It is a tool. Some of its forms are merely more costly to use than others. The simple fact is, in order to perform hemomancy, one needs blood. Whether your own, your allies’, or your enemies’ does not matter.”   
She comes to a stop and focuses on me. “Use hemomancy as it is, as a tool. If you have a tool that is better equipped to handle the task, use that instead, but always have spare blood in your storage space. That is an advantage many a vampire would enslave entire nations for. After all, one must have blood in order to use blood magic.”  
She demonstrates by holding up her hand. With my new eyes, I see as several small cuts open in her hand as blood is pulled out of her arm. The blood rises up in several small streams until it forms a ball an inch above her hand. She shapes the ball into a spike, then a knife, then a necklace, before letting the blood flow back into her body.  
I blink and shake my head a little. “Ok vampire biology question.” I say. “If you pull blood out of yourself, then just put it back, does it still work?”  
Serana chuckles and nods. “Yes. So long as it is your blood. However, if you wish to drain another’s blood, you must drink. Do not ask me why. My mother and I spent over a century searching for an answer to that question, and found nothing.”  
Interesting.  
I cast blood control, and pull some of my own blood out of my skin like Serana just did.   
This is a really weird feeling. It doesn’t really hurt, but it doesn’t feel nice. I shape the blood into the various kinds of dice I played dungeons and dragons with in my old life, before bringing it back into my body.  
As the last of the blood returns to my arm, I shiver a little at the odd feeling, and the situation in general.  
Serana chuckles once more. “It is strange when you first begin. In time, you will not react this way. Now, you seem to have a grasp of your magic and powers, and the only way to improve your control in your greater form is practice. As such, my work is done. You may continue working here, or assist me with the portal.”  
“I’ll go with you.” I say. “We need to get that damn thing done, and I did kinda promise Svar I’d take it easy.”  
Serana hums, and opens a portal. “Then follow me.”  
We both walk through, and emerge in the portal room. Serana heads back to her workstation while I survey the area.   
We still need to charge gems. I’ll do that.  
Wait.  
I look through my inventory, but don’t find what I’m looking for.  
I turn to look at Serana. “Do you have the soul stone we got from Labyrinthian?” I ask her.  
She smiles at me, and reaches into her cloak. When her hand reemerges, it holds the soul stone. “Did you truly believe I would leave it behind?” She asks, amused.  
I shake my head. “No. I just didn’t know what happened to it after I passed out. What can we do with that thing anyway?”  
Serana hums. “I take it your information ability was not too specific on its uses?”  
I nod.  
“Well,” She begins. “its most basic use is that of an arcane battery. Mages who do not know how to use it correctly will simply use it as a reusable soul gem, but there is much more to it than that. As you saw in Labyrinthian when we fought the dragon, it can bind the entities within it into servitude.”  
I raise an eyebrow. “Are you saying we could have a pet dragon priest?”  
She smiles widely. “Yes. It will take quite a bit of effort to mold him into a proper servant, but it is possible. Alternatively, we could use his soul to augment the power of one of our group, but I feel that would be a waste. I am already quite powerful, Svarline is the dragonborn, and you were just turned into a vampire. It would be better to bind Morokei’s soul to our service. We will need a great powersource to achieve such a feat, but once we have access to the Soul Cairn, that will not be an issue.”  
Great powersource huh?  
I reach into my inventory and pull out a jug. “Will this maybe work?” I ask.  
Serana tilts her head curiously, and walks over to me. She takes the jug and opens it, casting a few spells on the golden liquid within. “I have never seen anything like this. Where did you acquire it?”  
“Same place I got Yamato.” I say. “Occasionally I can pull things from other worlds. I don’t get to choose what I get, but it’s still pretty useful.”  
Serana focuses on me. “You are an enigma.” She says, before turning back to the jug. “I sense power coming from this, but I do not believe it will work to properly tether Morokei. I also do not know enough about it to trust it with such a powerful soul.” She grabs her chin as she thinks. “It almost reminds me of some dwarven oils I have come across. Perhaps if you used this to power a dwarven automaton something interesting would happen?”  
Huh, that’s actually not a bad idea.  
I nod. “If I find any unpowered dwarven tech, I’ll give it a go.”   
She nods and returns to her work station. “I would like to be there to view what happens, but for now, we should get to work.”  
I nod in agreement, and walk to the other side of the room. I pick up an emerald and get to work.

I lose track of time as Serana and I work. We talk only when we need to coordinate, leaving each other alone when speech is unnecessary.  
We’ve made progress, but this thing is a monumental undertaking. The undead weren’t factored into the original question, so we’ve been able to shave off time for manual labor. Everything that requires any amount of magic is left to Serana and I though. Given that it's a portal to the Soul Cairn, magic is required for quite a bit.  
All told we’ve been working just shy of a month. My original estimate of seven months is looking to be off like I expected. What I didn’t expect was that we would be under that time. With the undead, and Svar occasionally chipping in when she’s not training with Paarthurnax, we can probably get this thing done in just under six months. Barring any major setbacks.  
…  
…  
…  
Huh, thought for sure Murphy was gonna fuck me over right there.  
“Dusk!” Serana cries from the other side of the room.  
Ah, there it is.  
“We may have a serious issue on our hands.” Serana appears next to me.  
“What happened?” I ask seriously.  
She shakes her head. “Not yet.” She opens a portal, and the two of us walk through.  
The portal takes us to the mess hall, where Svar is in the process of eating a rabbit leg.  
Svar raises an amused eyebrow at us. “What? Not willing to walk around too much in case you get a dead leg?”  
Serana shakes her head gravely. “I have made a mistake.”  
I narrow my eyes. “What mistake? I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed you screwing up anything major in there.”  
She shakes her head violently. “Not the portal. My scouts. I sent a bird over the walls, and into Morthal. I was trying to gather information on the necromancer Movarth employed. I found her, but she is far stronger than I anticipated.”  
Svar’s amusement fades, and she becomes serious. “Did you recognize her? What did she look like?”  
Serana shakes her head. “I did not recognize her. She was a black haired vampire who appeared to have been a nord before her turning, but there was something wrong about her. It was as if her soul did not match her form. I have only come across something like this only once before. It was during the Planemeld, when a necromancer stole the body of his younger apprentice in an effort to live longer. Something similar has been done here.”  
I let out a long sigh.  
I don’t remember any Valkorion style body jumpers in The Elder Scrolls, so what the hell is going on?  
“You’re saying Movarth has a body-snatching necromancer at his beck and call that caught one of your scouts. Do you think she could track the bird back to us?” I ask.  
Serana grabs her chin. “I don’t believe so, but I’m hesitant to underestimate her because we know so little. I’m also not sure Movarth is the commander. He seemed respectful, if not outright subservient to the necromancer. I believe it is possible she is the ture mastermind.” Serana turns to look at me. “Do you know of any beings who could potentially move their soul from body to body?”  
“Uh… give me a minute.” I respond.  
Ok. Body snatching necromancers. What’ve we got?  
…   
…   
…   
“I’ve got no idea.” I say aloud.  
Svar turns to Serana. “Was there anything else that might help identify her?”  
Serana thinks for a moment.   
“She had a pendant around her neck.” Serana begins. “It was a stylistic wolf with a third eye in the center of its head. Does that mean anything to either of you?”  
That means all of jack shit to me.  
“Sounds like Potema’s banner, but she’s been dead for hundreds of years.” Svar says as she thinks.  
I freeze.  
Holy shit that might be it. If Solitude didn’t send anyone to that one cave, she’d be out. There wasn’t a dragonborn there to stop anything. Wait, wouldn’t she have been bound to those cultists without the dragonborn? Wasn’t that the whole point of the follow-up quest?  
“Dusk?” Serana asks. Looking at me intently.  
“You got something?” Svar picks up on how I’m acting.  
“Maybe.” I say. “I don’t know what Potema’s banner looks like, but I know she’s not really dead. Or she is, but it didn’t take.”  
Serana hums. “I take it this Potema was a powerful necromancer?”  
I nod. “From what I know though, a group of necromancers should have bound her soul though. She kinda slipped my mind what with the dragons, and Miraak, and the portal, and…”  
“I understand Dusk,” Serana interrupts. “but is it possible she was able to free herself?”  
I shrug. “It’s possible, and given Movarth is bowing to someone, it’s a safe bet to assume she runs Morthal at present. Can she track the bird back to you?” I ask again.  
Serana thinks for a moment. “It is possible, but she would have to be as gifted as myself or my mother. Something I find quite unlikely. It is possible she sensed the direction it came from however.”  
Svar sighs. “So we might have a vampire army coming to say hello sometime soon? Here I thought we finally had a chance to catch a break.”  
“Right now let's assume it’s Potema, and that knows we’re in this direction. We set the undead up in defensive positions, and we make sure the Temple is completely secured. Having a vampire army doesn’t help all that much if they can’t find us.” I say before turning to Serana. “Of course this hinges on her not knowing our exact location. How sure are you she can’t track it back to you?”  
She thinks for a moment, then meets my eyes. “How long ago did she die?”  
I turn to Svar. “You know history better than I do.”  
Svar makes a so-so gesture. “I know some history. I don’t really know all that much about Potema though. My best guess would be around six-hundred years ago give or take. Does that help?”  
The two of us turn to Serana.  
Serana grabs her chin and thinks. Finally, she says, “It is safe to assume she knows the direction the spell originated from, but not the exact location. She could send a scouting party in our direction, but it is in our best interest to let them walk past unmolested. They do not have our precise location. If one of their scouts sent to this area turns up dead, they will have confirmation that we are close.”  
I nod. “Lock the doors and pretend we’re not home. Got it.”  
Svar frowns. “I’ll need to talk to Paarthurnax about this. His illusions should be good enough to cover our training sessions, but he would know better than I do. I’ll have to work something else out if he thinks there’s any danger.”  
Serana looks between us. “I apologize for this. I grew overconfident, and we are all suffering as a result. It will not happen again.” She says with steel.  
I wave her off. “Everyone fucks up. It’s how you deal with the fuck up that I care about. ”  
Svar nods in agreement. “So long as this isn’t the start of a habit, everything’s good.” She says.  
Serana relaxes slightly. “Thank you both. I need to see to it the undead prepare for an assault. Do as you will.” She nods to us, and hurries towards the door.  
“Wait!” I call out.  
She turns to face me.  
“The first two armories you come across after entering the Temple have fully restored armor and weapons. If any of the undead have lousy equipment, arm them there.” I say.  
She nods. “I will.” She turns and leaves.  
Svar lets out a long sigh, and stands up. “I’ve gotta talk to Paarthurnax about this. After that I’ll probably go to sleep. What are you going to do?” She asks me.  
I shrug. “Not much I can do. Serana controls the undead, and I can only kill stuff if they find us. I suppose I’ll go back to working on the portal. It’ll keep me busy if nothing else.”  
She nods. “I’ll let you get to it.” She gives me a kiss on the cheek, and leaves the room.  
I let out a sigh of my own after she leaves.  
If it’s not one thing, it’s another. We just killed a dragon priest for Christ’s sake! Can we catch a break?  
I make my way back to the portal room, and get to work.  
There’s not much I can do about Potema right now, so I might as well do something else productive.

(Interlude: Potema)

  
“Interesting.” I say aloud as I study the dead songbird in my hand.  
“If I may ask, what is it you find interesting my lady?” Movarth asks from my left.  
I smile, and turn to him. “Someone has been spying on us.”  
His eyes narrow, and he bows his head. “I apologize my lady. I thought we had defeated the College’s attempts to scry on us.”  
I chuckle softly. “You have Movarth. No, this is someone else. Someone very interesting.” I hum to myself as I probe the dead bird with my magic. “Crone.” I say over my shoulder as I study the bird. “How is your training progressing?”  
“Steadily my lady.” The Crone responds. “I am still no match for Movarth’s warriors, but I have discovered I possess a gift for hemomancy. I am taking full advantage of this fact by incorporating it into my fighting style.”   
I turn to her with a smile on my face. “You could stand to be a little cheerful about such a discovery, my Crone. You speak as if speaking of watching weeds grow. Be more chipper.”  
The woman smiles a venom filled smile at me. “Of course my lady!” She says with exaggerated cheer.  
I laugh at the display, and walk up to her. “Resist all you wish Crone, you will be mine in the end.”  
I hear a faint snarl escape the woman’s mouth, and grin.  
She will be perfect once properly molded. I need only be patient.  
I give her a pat on the cheek, then turn to Movarth. “Gather a scouting party. Send them to the west, and order them to search for any necromancers in the area. If they encounter any, they are not to engage, but observe. They are to report back in one weeks time, regardless of their findings. And while you are among the troops, ensure we are on schedule for our upcoming assault.”  
My general bows, then leaves to carry out my orders.  
I turn back to my Crone with a smile. “Perhaps you do not enjoy your training because you have yet to find a fitting partner? Join me in the arena.” I turn and begin walking.  
“Yes my lady.” The Crone says through gritted teeth.  
Ah, she’s so much fun.

(Interlude: Just a harmless little girl)

I’m glad we could find a tall enough hill. This is quite an enjoyable show!  
“Oh look!” I point. “There goes another one!”  
My family laughs as we all watch the flaming guard run into a tree.  
“What a moron!” Veezara cackles. “He had a pond to his left, and he ran towards the wood?”  
We all laugh as the burning guard screams his last.  
Gabrielle wipes a tear from her eye. “I can’t imagine what the idiot was thinking. ‘Those dragons can’t live there! That’s my mountain!’”  
We all burst out laughing once more at her impression of the Jarl.  
“As amusing as this all is,” Astird begins. “we must decide what we will do now. Falkreath is no longer a very appealing location for our little family.”  
“We could go to Whiterun.” Festus offers. “It’s been some time since I was able to kill any aristocrats.”  
Arnbjorn groans. “No Whiterun. I’ve still got scars from the last time the Companions caught me there. Damn elitists.” He mutters.  
“What about Morthal?” Gabrielle says. “I haven’t been there in awhile.”  
“Please no.” I say. “You all have long legs. You don’t understand how horrid it is to walk through those marshes being as short as I am.”  
“Aww,” Festus smiles at me. “is our little Babette afraid of the big bad swamp?”  
I smile at him. “But grandpa Krex!” I faux-whine. “I’ll get my dress wet!”  
A new wave of laughs and chuckles passes through our family.  
“How about Markarth?” Veezara asks. “We could probably lie low in the undercity easily enough.”  
No one responds in the negative.  
Astrid looks around at each of us, and hearing no complaints, claps her hands together. “Markarth it is then! Be ready to leave in half an hour. I doubt the dragons will give us any longer.”  
We all stand and make our way back to the Sanctuary. It’s a shame to leave it behind, but so long as we’re together, everything will be alright.


	16. 16

The next day passed quickly. Serana ran around Sky Haven with her undead making sure everything was set up, and Svar continued with her training.  
I kept an eye on them whenever I could with my soul magic. Just to ensure neither of them got attacked by some unseen vampiric assassins.  
Screw Potema.  
As for what I did for the past day, I worked on the portal through the night, but eventually had to stop. I was getting too anxious, and needed to hit things. Not wanting to damage Sky Haven, I grabbed Mr. Rogers and we spent some time in ID’s.  
Everything went pretty well all considered.  
The demon’s main attacks almost all were based in fire, but with my lightning form and Godspeed I was able to keep myself safe. I would pull my punches, and let some attacks hit me to take advantage of Adaptive. The perk is slow to take effect, but after a lot of fire damage, I’ve gotten my resistance up to seven percent, which dropped the weakness down to ninety-three percent. Still horrible, but it’s something I guess.  
Wanting a little bit of holy resistance as well, I finally jumped into my angel dungeon to do the same thing. I avoided taking on large groups by speeding around the cloudy heaven area I was dropped in, and let the angels hit me. I only got three percent resistance out of that, but again, it’s better than nothing.  
By far the most important thing to come from this little escapade, was the level advancement. While I only got six level ups, that was enough to finally max out Saber.

Level up x6!  
Gain +60 stat points!

For reaching Level 100 Saber you have gained a sword style that will complement your most used sword!  
Sword style, Iaido, gained!

[Congratulations!]  
[That’s two combat classes down!]  
[Time for a new one!]  
[Please select a specialization!]  
[Mage/Warrior/Thief]

Mage. Martially inept really slowed down my progress, and if Potema is really going to be sniffing around our headquarters, I can’t afford to develop slowly.

[Please Select a specialization!]  
[Elementalist/Illusionist/Conjurer/Necromancer/Abjurer/Diviner]

Hmm. Any reason they’re the exact same as last time? I would’ve thought there would be more options this go around.

[More advanced classes unlock after you master three other specializations within the same tree!]  
[You must max out two more mage classes before unlocking more potent magical classes!]

Eh, makes sense I guess.  
Ok, so what class? Between Saber and Electromancer, I have plenty of offensive potential, so I need something with a little more variability. Serana is a master necromancer already, so that’s unnecessary at the moment. Same with Conjurer. Svar can handle that between her thu’um and alteration magic. Diviner is still bad, and I’m not too keen on being an illusionist.  
I guess I could go elementalist again as either a wind or water mage to take advantage of my storm perks, but I already have enough attack power. I really need versatility right now.   
So Abjurer? It’ll give me a pretty decent defensive option, and I’ll be able to ward Sky Haven. Plus, it’s a magic class. Even if I don’t like it, my EXP gain will be so insane I’ll be able to move on quickly.  
I’ll take Abjurer.

[Class] (Abjurer) - LVL 2/100  
Gain 5 INT, 5 WIS, and 2 END per Level

[Create Shield]  
Costs 50 MP  
Conjure a stationary shield of pure energy to block attacks(Can be destroyed by enough force)

[Conjured Ward]  
Costs 200 MP  
Create a violet shell of energy around yourself to absorb attacks until broken

[Shield Area]  
Costs 500 MP  
Takes 1 minutes to cast  
Create a ward to protect the desired location from scrying, teleportation, and damage. This ward lasts for 1 hour

[Gifted Ward]  
Costs 150 MP  
Create a shield of energy around an ally until destroyed

[Defensive Guidance]  
Costs 300 MP  
Buffs all of the targets defensive stats by 5 for 1 hour

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 200  
Class- Abjurer - LVL 2/100 [6%]  
Crafting Class- N/A [0%]  
Race- Vampire Lord  
Tier- Immortal  
Alignment- True Neutral  
HP- 15600 [4680 per minute]  
MP- 18320 [13740 per minute]  
SP- 15600 [4680 per minute]  
STR- 774  
END- 780  
DEX - 565  
INT - 916  
WIS - 916  
CHA - 545  
LUK - 549  
MP Regen= WIS x 15  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 6  
SP/HP= END x 20

Pretty underwhelming, but it is only level two. I’ll have to see what I can do with it when it gets stronger.  
With one last look at my stats, I open the broom closet door so Mr. Rogers and I can leave.  
Mr. Rogers trots off to wherever he spends his time, and I start walking the halls.  
I should probably go work on the portal some more. If anyone needs me, they’ll be able to find me easily enough.

(Svarline)

“Vosaraan Dovahkiin. You are too slow.” Paarthurnax says before he fires another blast of ice at me.  
“YOL!” I coat myself in flames to try and melt the ice, but his thu’um proves stronger. My flames die out, and I become encased in ice.  
My wings lock up and I begin to fall.  
Shit.  
I use my alteration magic to heat up my cloak, and begin to melt through the ice. The ground grows closer far too fast for comfort.  
This isn’t working.  
I growl in frustration and shout, “FEIM!” The ice falls away from me, and my ghostly form connects with the ground.  
Damnit.  
I hear a large rushing of air, and turn to look at Paarthurnax as he lands. “This krif is over Dovahkiin.” He says calmly. “Rest for the remainder of the day. You pushed yourself too hard yesterday, and are continuing to do the same this day.”  
I scowl as my ghost form fades away. “I need to get stronger. The only way to do that is to train, so shut up and train me Overlord.” I cringe as soon as the word leaves my mouth.  
The book Serana gave me to read while we walked to Labyrinthian was eye opening, but it didn’t really change my opinion of my mentor. Sure he’s got a past, but so do I. Why should I judge him for his?  
“Sorry.” I mumble as I look to the ground.  
Paarthurnax hums patiently as he leans towards me. “You need not apologize. I am aware of what I have done, and I am glad mortals domaan as well. You should concern yourself, with yourself, and your mates. You are unbalanced Dovahkiin. Your most recent krif sits ill with you. Recover for today, and ensure your partners are well. I will busy myself with seeing to the qah of your home. Return to me tomorrow.”   
He nods at me, and takes to the air once more.  
I let out a long sigh as he flys away. My cloak knits itself back together, and my scales fade.  
I’m really screwed up right now.  
I let out another sigh and re-entered Sky Haven.  
As I walk the various staircases and hallways on the way to the mess hall, I allow my mind to wander.  
It hadn’t really sunk in until today, but that fucking lich nearly killed me. He would’ve killed me if Serana hadn’t taken that hit. He would’ve killed me if Dusk hadn’t blocked that spell.  
Serana nearly died.   
Dusk nearly died.  
And I couldn’t do a damn thing for either of them.  
I lean against a wall, and take a deep breath.  
I need to get stronger. I haven’t been taking this seriously. Before, I only bothered training because it was something to do. Now? Now I’ve been training to get better than Dusk, so I could hold it over him.  
I chuckle as I remember a conversation we had on our way here from the tomb. Divines that feels like a decade ago.  
I said my goal was not to stick by him right? That’s changed.  
Before when I said I didn’t want to lose him, I meant I didn’t want to watch him die. At the time though? I could’ve handled it. I would’ve been able to move on. It would’ve hurt. No, it would’ve hurt a lot, but I’ve gotten used to hurting.  
I’m not used to hurting like that though.  
Watching Serana collapse had filled me with terror I haven’t felt since I watched my mother and sister die. I was powerless to help her, and I hated that. Then Dusk acted. He saved her life, and almost killed himself in the process. Again, I was filled with dread, but I couldn’t do anything. I had to hope while Serana acted.  
I chuckle ironically.  
I suppose I should thank that asshole lich for making me realize something important.   
I couldn’t take it if one of them died. I don’t know if that’s the dragon me talking, or me me talking, but I could. Not. Take it.  
It doesn’t really make sense. I haven’t known either of them all that long even by mortal standards, and they’re both immortal now.  
I allow myself a smile.  
I guess it doesn’t really have to make sense. This is how things are now, and if anyone tries to take them away from me, I will burn them.  
I take a deep breath, and push off the wall. I smile as I continue down the hallway.  
“Kogaan In.” I say to the air. “I needed the time to think.”  
“Aaz Dovahkiin.” The air around me replies in Paarthurnax’s voice. “Rest well. I will watch over your home from the lok.”  
The voice fades, and I continue on my way.  
Dusk and Serana are mine. I will not allow anything to threaten them again.  
I’ll grow strong enough to fight on even footing with them, I’ll tear apart anyone that harms them, and I’ll beat mortality so the three of us never have to part.  
I continue down the hall in the direction of the mess hall.  
For now, I’m going to get something to eat, then go to sleep. Tomorrow, I work my ass off.

(Dusk)

Ok, got the circle ready, but we still need to stabilize everything. I guess I should start on...  
“Dusk.” A weary voice at the door draws my attention from the iron rods in my hand.  
I turn to find Serana standing in the entryway.  
“What’s up?” I ask.  
She looks around the room for a moment. “How long have you been working down here?”  
I go to respond, but stop myself.  
I haven’t really been keeping track of time have I?  
“Uh…” I say dumbly. “What time is it?”  
Serana narrows her eyes at me. “Evening. I take it you didn’t sleep last night?”  
Huh, I’ve been down here awhile.  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “I don’t need sleep anymore, and I’m guessing you didn’t sleep either, so don't go throwing stones.”  
She tilts her head, confused. “What?”  
I wave her off. “It’s a saying. ‘Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.’ Essentially, don’t be a hypocrite.”  
She hums. “It must have been created while I was imprisoned.”  
I shrug. “It’s possible. Anyway, what’s up? You need me for something.”  
Serana shakes her head. “No. I was merely seeing if you had rested. Svarline would not take a break until Paarthurnax forced her, and now she is working harder than before. It would not do to have the both of you overwork yourselves.”  
I give her a disbelieving look. “This from the lady who just spent the last however long running all over the place? I checked in on both of you from time to time with my soul magic, and you were always in a different area of the Temple. Don’t tell us to take a break while you burn yourself out.”  
She holds my gaze for a moment, before sighing. “Very well. I will rest for a short while, but I am not yet done with my preparations. If our location is discovered, we will need every advantage available to us.” She takes a seat in a nearby chair, and leans back comfortably.  
I shrug and get back to work.  
“Hey.” A new voice says from the entryway. “You’re taking a break too. We all need a minute.”  
I turn and see Svar walking in with a charred chicken breast in her hand.  
“Fine, just let me…” I’m cut off.  
“No.” Svar says. “I might not have vampire ears, but I can hear pretty well thanks to alteration magic. If you’ve been working for a day and didn’t notice, it’s time to take a break.”  
She’s kind of got a point.  
I hear chuckling and turn to face Serana.  
“What was that you said about glass houses and stones?” She says with a smile.  
I let out a sigh, and set everything down.  
We’ve still got time to work on this thing, so a little rest isn’t going to hurt anything.  
I grab another chair, and carry it over next to Serana where Svar has already set hers up.  
“So.” I say as I sit down. “We’re taking a break.”  
Svar nods, and Serana hums.  
The three of us sit there, and just enjoy sitting around doing nothing.  
Honestly? After the everything we’ve been doing for a while, this is pretty damn nice.  
Svar is the first one to break the silence.  
“Thank you both.” She says quietly, but firmly.  
Serana and I turn to her in confusion.  
“Thanks for what?” I ask.  
She takes a deep breath, and leans back to look up at the ceiling. “That lich nearly killed me. Twice. He would’ve killed me if not for you two, so thanks. You both nearly died because I messed up.” She sits up straighter, and looks between us. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help save you, but I won’t let anything like that happen again.”  
I shake my head at her. “Don’t apologize. That was a damn dragon priest. I get that you don’t like feeling helpless, but you weren’t. If you hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have had an opening to use the soul stone on him.”  
Serana hums and looks at Svar. “What occurred was not your fault, and Dusk is correct. Without all three of us, I doubt we would have survived that encounter. Do not blame yourself for being incapable of helping us either. We are a team now. Where you fall short, we will support you. Just as you will support Dusk and I where we stumble.”  
Svar looks between us, and swallows a lump in her throat. She gives us a sharp nod. “Thank you.” She repeats.  
Serana nods back at her, then turns to me. “Now that we have finished that topic, I have my own I would like to breach.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “And that would be….?”  
She smiles at me. “I am curious how your ‘daedric ass pulling’ works. Would you be willing to share?”  
Svar’s face lights up. “I’m curious too. So how’s it work?”  
Both women look at me expectantly.  
Eh, I trust them. Besides, it’s not really much of a secret. I’m leaving out the Gamer bit though.  
I shrug at them. “Every once in a while I get the ability to pull stuff from other places. I don’t know how it works, all I know is that it does. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get more stuff either. I typically only get anything after I’ve done something pretty major.”  
Svar tilts her head. “Killing a dragon priest is pretty big. Can you get anything right now?”  
I nod. “I’ve got three attempts right now. I could get something like Yamato, or I could get something like this.” I pull out my pet rock and show it to them. “This is literally just a rock someone drew a face on. I got a ghost cutting sword from one pull, and this from another. It is that random.”  
Serana hums. “You’ve also mentioned you know where Yamato originally comes from. Is it the same for other things you receive, and how do you know?” She asks curiously.  
I shrug at her. “I know where some of the things I get come from, and I know the same way I know things about Skyrim. Tamriel in general really. I just do.”  
Serana tilts her head at me, but accepts my answer. “Would you be willing to retrieve the items while Svarline and I are present? I would be most interested in watching this.”  
Svar nods in agreement. “I would too.”  
I shrug again. “Might as well.”  
I activate Felix Felicis while the two of them lean over to watch me.  
Give me something good please.

Item Added  
The Golden Infinity Gauntlet  
Common Item  
This item resided within Odin’s vaults until it was acquired by you.   
Made from solid gold.

I jump to my feet. “Hell yeeeeeee…... this isn’t real is it?”  
Svar and Serana look at me with confused expressions.  
I give a long sigh, and pull it out.  
Yep. It’s made from gold, and is from Odin’s vault. This is the fake one from Ragnarok.   
I take several very deep breaths as I get Greed under control.  
“Svar? You want a really shiny glove?” I say through clenched teeth.  
She regards me warily. “Why does it seem like you want to smash that thing?”  
“Because I do.” I say honestly. “This is a replica of a very powerful artifact, and I thought I got the real one. If you don’t take it, I’m liable to disintegrate it.”  
Svar looks at me for a second longer, before she says, “So long as there’s no curses or anything on it, I’ll take it.”  
I toss it to her, and take another deep breath to relax.  
Serana hums. “That affected you quite strongly.” She observes. “Is there anything we can do to help?”  
I wave her off. “Side effect of the power.” I say. “It makes me incredibly greedy. Not the same as Svar’s dragon side, but comparable. I’ll be fine in a minute.”  
Serana nods, and waits patiently.  
Svar puts the damn glove on the ground next to her, and waits with Serana.  
“Ok.” I say after a little bit. “I’m good. Let’s see what the next one is.”

Item Added!  
Basilisk Hide Cloak  
Rare Item  
This cloak was made from basilisk hide. It is extremely difficult to tear or rip, and is resistant to weaker magic.

Not willing to get my hopes up only to have them crushed a second time, I pull the black cloak out and cast a weak lightning bolt into it. The bolt hits the material, but fades away harmlessly.  
I grin.  
“What the hell is that?” Svar asks. “Did that thing just eat your spell?”  
“No.” Serana says contemplatively. “The Staff of Magnus ‘eats’ spells. That cloak resisted the effect, but it could be overpowered by a strong enough attack.” She turns to look at me. “What is it made from? I don’t sense any enchantments from it, so that property must exist within the material itself.”  
I nod, impressed with the deduction. “It’s basilisk hide. Think giant snake that can petrify people who make eye contact with it, and you’ve got the right idea. Where they come from, the things are mage killers. They’re a pain to deal with due to the sight thing, and the fact that magic is less than effective against them.”  
Svar nods along. “So that’s pretty good right?”  
I smile. “Best I’ve gotten since Ascalon probably, so ya. Pretty good.”  
Svar looks at the cloak then back to me. “You gonna wear it? You’d look pretty badass in that thing.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You just want to see me in scales don’t you?”  
Svar whistles innocently.  
Serana chuckles. “I concur with Svarline. While you would look dashing in that garment, it is also quite practical. You have proven an accomplished enchanter, so I’m sure you could create the same enchantments on that cloak that I put on your current ones.”  
I nod. “Not a bad idea. I’ll do it when I’ve got some free time.” I throw the cloak in my inventory for later.  
Serana hums. “You have one more attempt, yes? I’m curious to see what you obtain next.”  
Not needing any more prompting, I use my final gacha coin.

Item Added!  
Orb of Death  
Level- N/A  
Tier- N/A  
HP- N/A  
Thoughts about you- You are likely the strongest undead who has ever possessed it. It is impressed with you.

Uh… what?  
A violet hued ball of darkness settles into my palm, and I hear a voice drift into my thoughts.  
You are far superior to the last being who held me. May I have your name mighty…..?  
I drop the ball and jump away from it.  
“No one touch that!” I say as I back off.  
Serana and Svar stand and prepare for a battle as they look at the orb.  
“What happened?” Svar asks urgently.  
“That… thing.” Serana says confused. “What is it? It’s alive, but has no soul. I don’t understand.”  
I take a few moments to make sure my mind isn’t being taken over.  
Game? What the hell?! I thought Gamer’s Mind protected me from mental attacks!

[It does Gamer!]  
[The Orb of Death wasn’t attempting to harm or influence you in any way, it merely wanted to talk to you!]  
[Had it tried to influence or hurt you at all, I would’ve crushed it into a shard filled pulp!]

Um… glad you got my back Game, but from now on can you block telepathy unless I ok it?

[No problem Gamer!]  
[I’ll remember that for the future!]

Thanks Game.  
“Dusk?!” Svar almost shouts as she continues to eye the ball.  
I take a deep breath, and wave them off. “It’s not going to attack, so you can relax. Just don’t touch it.”  
Svar relaxes, but Serana continues to study the orb in interest.  
“This thing is very peculiar.” Serana says as she leans closer to the ball. “What is it?”  
“It’s an Orb of Death.” I respond as I fall back into my chair. “Fully sentient ball of necromantic angst. I’m not sure what all it can do, but I know where it was used by weaker necromancers in the world it comes from. I’m repeating myself here, but don’t touch it. It can talk telepathically to anyone touching it, and if I remember correctly it can even influence your thoughts subtly.”  
Serana grasps her chin and hums. “I have dealt with items of a corrupting nature before, but never a fully sentient one. I would be interested in studying it when we have time for such endeavors.”  
Svar looks at the orb suspiciously. “What’re we going to do with it until then? I’d really rather not have a death ball talking to me in my head.” She turns to me. “Can you just keep it where you keep Yamato?”  
Game? Can I store this thing in my inventory?

[Nope!]  
[Only non-sentient items may be placed in your inventory!]  
[You’ll have to find another way to secure the Orb of Death!]

Great.  
I shake my head at Svar. “I can’t put sentient things in that space, so we’ll have to find some other way to lock this thing up.”  
Serana straightens. “Leave that to me. The Blades stored several dangerous magical artifacts within this Temple throughout its existence. I have found quite a few of their secure holdings, and while most have deteriorated, there are some that I feel will be sufficient to hold the orb. It is strange, but I do not believe it to be very powerful.”  
I look at her. “Just don’t underestimate the thing ya?”  
Serana nods at me. “Do not worry. The Blades’s defenses are quite secure.” She holds out her hand, and a portal opens up beneath the orb and swallows it.  
Svar sits back down. “Don’t go experimenting on that thing without telling us Serana. I like you, so it’d suck if you get puppeted by a weirdly colored rock.” She says tiredly.  
Serana chuckles. “Don’t worry. I will inform both of you about any experiments I conduct before they happen, but those are a long way off. I know we are taking a break, but since Dusk’s ability has been exhausted, should we discuss our plan going forward?” She sits back down in her own chair.  
Svar shrugs. “As far as I’m aware, our current plan is, ‘Get stronger so Alduin can’t eat us, and let everyone else take care of their own problems.’ Granted, we might have to alter that a bit because of the whole Potema situation, but the general plan should remain the same right?”  
I look from her to Serana. “That’s kind of my thought process too. Is there anything besides Potema you want to talk about?”  
Serana hums, and turns to me. “You knew the location of The Staff of Magnus. Would it be safe to assume you know the location of other such artifacts?”  
I nod. “A few, but a bunch of the ones I know about are either in pieces, or have something else wrong with them that’s keeping them from being used. I’m guessing you want to track down a bunch of artifacts then?”  
She nods. “It is not something we must do with any haste, but it is a goal we can move towards.”  
Svar tilts her head at Serana. “This is long term right? I mean, we still haven’t gotten your mother out of the Soul Cairn, so I’d guess that’s your number one priority right now.”  
Serana shakes her head. “My number one priority is ensuring the three of us stay alive. Freeing my mother is next on that list, but so long as we are careful, we will have time enough to free her. It is merely a matter of patience.”  
“So…” I begin. “we’re not going to be hunting down powerful items for awhile yet?”  
Serana nods. “For now, I think it best we deal with Potema. I apologize once again for placing us in this situation.”  
I wave her off. “Don’t worry about it.” I turn to Svar. “Does Paarthurnax have any illusions that can help us stay hidden?”  
Svar nods. “He already put up everything he thought would help, and said he’d keep an eye out for anyone scouting around the area.” She turns to Serana. “Out of curiosity, what specifically are you hoping we’ll find when we go artifact hunting?”  
Serana smiles. “Anything that can help us. Whether it helps us survive, or makes our lives more comfortable doesn’t matter. I’m merely interested in acquiring anything that has the potential to help us.”  
“So our only long term goal right now is to find artifacts?” Svar asks. “I don’t have a problem with that, I’m just curious.”  
I don’t have a long term plan in place right now, but Serana might…   
I raise an eyebrow at Serana. “Before we left for Labyrinthian you said, ‘the three of us could grow to accomplish much in this world’. Mind explaining what you were referring to?”  
She bares her fangs at me in a smile. “I was not referring to anything malicious. I just believe the three of us could grow to be a force to be reckoned with. You are both strong, and have the potential to grow even stronger. You might even be able to elevate me above my own current strength. I care for the both of you, and the both of you care for me. I’m very interested in seeing where this leads. That is all.”  
Huh, I guess I kind of want to see where things lead too. Once we deal with Alduin, and Harkon, and Miraak, and….  
You know what? I’ll worry about them later.  
We can afford to rest for a bit.  
“We’ve got company.” Svar suddenly says, her eyes unfocused.  
God. Fucking. Damnit Murphy.  
Serana narrows her eyes. “They are here then?”  
Svar nods, but doesn’t answer.   
I let out a sigh as I stood. “I didn’t think they’d get here this fast.”  
Serana stands. “Vampires travel quickly when they have a purpose. We need to learn where they are located.”  
“We just did.” Svar says as she shakes her head. “Paarthurnax can see them. They’re poking around the old forsworn camp.”  
I cringe slightly.  
We had dismantled everything in that camp. We’d taken what we could salvage, and gotten rid of everything else, but it was still apparent that something was there.  
We should have tried to cover that up a little better. No use worrying about it now.  
“Can he see how many there are?” I ask Svar.  
She makes a so-so gesture. “He can see four, but they aren’t making any efforts to hide. It’s safe to assume there’s at least two more.”  
I let out a sigh as I stood up. “So they’re probably trying to draw us out. Make us give up our location.”  
Serana nods. “That is likely. I would suggest none of us work major magics. It is possible they would detect them, and determine our location as a result.”  
Svar nods as she stands up. “Paarthurnax says a couple of them are coming towards the cave. If we want to do anything, now’s the time.”  
Serana shakes her head. “I used the undead to completely cover the hidden entrance. It will appear overgrown, and all of the mechanisms within the cave have been obscured as well.”  
“Good.” I say. “Everyone stay close. I’m going to try something.”  
I begin casting Shield Area to block people from looking in on our location.  
“What are you casting?” Svar asks. “Will they notice it?”  
I shake my head as I channel mana. “It’s fairly weak, so I doubt they’ll be able to sense it. It’s a ward to stop people from scrying on us. If they have a diviner, we’ll need this.”  
Serana holds out her hand. “Good idea, but weak or not, your magic could alert them. Give me The Staff of Magnus. I will ensure no evidence of your casting leaves this room.”  
I nod, and pull the Staff from my inventory before handing it over.  
“While you do that, I’m going to see if I can find the ones that are hidden. Koraav.” Svar finishes her statement with a soft shout, and begins panning her gaze across the walls.  
I continue the spell while Serana uses the staff to keep my spell contained.  
Soon enough, the minute is up, and the spell is cast.  
“Done.” I say. I turn to Serana, and she hands the Staff back with a nod.  
I inventory it, then turn to Svar. “Finding anything?”  
She shakes her head. “I can only see the four from the camp. They’re in the caves now by the way.”  
“Have they reached the area we fought the mages in yet?” Serana asks.  
“They’re just getting there now.” Svar says as she looks through the wall. “They don’t seem to notice the pillars, and they’re walking away.”  
I let out a soft sigh of relief.   
I really don’t want to deal with vampire armies right now. The sooner they leave, the better.  
“Are they moving on?” I ask Svar after a few minutes of silence have passed..  
Svar shakes her head. “They’re out of the cave, but they’re still looking around the area. I don’t think they’re going to move on any time soon.”  
Sitting around and waiting for them to leave is going to drive me crazy.  
I look back towards the portal, and move over to it.  
“What are you doing?” Svar asks.  
I get to work before responding. “We can’t make them leave without giving away our location, which means we need to wait for them to leave on their own. I’d rather get something done in that time, than sit around chewing on my nails.”  
Serana hums. “I suppose such a stance has merit.” She stands for a second longer before she joins me and begins to work.  
Svar looks torn, but she eventually lets out a sigh and joins us.

For the rest of the night the three of us worked on the portal. Every hour I would recast Shield Area while Serana covered me with The Staff of Magnus.   
With all of us working together, as well as some of the non-combat undead Serana summoned to her, we were able to get quite a bit done. We’re still a long ways off from finishing this damn thing, but we were productive with our time.  
About an hour from sunrise, a tired Svar spoke up. “They’re moving on. Heading west.”  
Serana nods. “They will pass by us again on their return trip, so we must remain vigilant. However, I believe we are able to rest now.”  
“Good.” I say before turning to Svar. “You still need sleep, and you’ve been up for almost a full day. Get some sleep.”  
She yawns and nods her head. “Ok, but I’m cuddling with my vampires. Come on.” She hooks an arm under Serana’s, then mine, and begins walking back towards our room.  
Serana raises an eyebrow at her. “I didn’t realize I was invited.”  
“If you’re with us, you’re with us. You don’t get to half ass this.” Svar says as she continues to drag us behind her.  
Serana looks across to me. “And your thoughts?” She asks.  
I shrug. “What she said. If this is going to work, we can’t only have you around on special occasions. That’s not fair to you or us. Are you in or not?”  
She gives me a predatory grin. “I am in.”  
Svar yawns again. “Good. I want vampire cuddles, so I’m getting some Oblivion damned vampire cuddles.”  
We make it back to our room before too much longer, and Svar pulls her armor off before falling into the bed.  
I get out of my own armor, and crawl in next to her.  
A moment passes, and Serana lies down on Svar’s other side. Sans her cloak.  
Svar rolls over and becomes the little spoon to my big spoon, while simultaneously wrapping her arms around Serana.  
She lets out a contented sigh. “Dragons must really like cuddling, because this is nice.”  
Serana hums happily as she drapes an arm over Svar to hug me closer to both of them. “I can see the appeal.” She says softly.  
I smile. “Ya, this is pretty nice.”  
Svar’s breathing evens out, and she speaks one last word as she falls asleep. “Mine.”  
Serana chuckles softly, and looks at me. “It appears we’ve been claimed.” She says.  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You got a problem with that?”  
She hums quietly. “Not at all.”  
I let out a soft chuckle. “Night Serana.”  
“Goodnight Dusk.”

  
I wake up before Serana and Svar, and get up carefully so I don’t wake them.  
They need the rest.  
I walk down the halls until I make it to the mess hall. I pull one of the dead bandits from my inventory, and slit his wrist over a wine glass. Once the glass is full, I sear the wound shut with my lightning magic and put the body back in my inventory.  
I’m a vampire now. Might as well play to the tropes.  
I sit down with a grin and begin sipping at my ‘wine’.   
I feel classy as shit right now.  
I let out a contented sigh.  
I suppose I should do something useful, but I don’t really feel like moving. Serana wants to collect artifacts right? I guess I could make a list of everything I remember. Eh, sure. I’ll do that.  
I pull another blank notebook I got from the library out of my inventory and begin writing everything I remember down.  
Really wish my perfect memory extended to my old life. What I remember is only the stuff I would pick up every other playthrough. Everything else is just general knowledge, and I’m not confident it’s entirely correct.  
I create a legend on the first page to let the reader differentiate between stuff I’m sure about, and stuff I’m not sure about.  
I really need to make sure this doesn’t wind up in the wrong hands.  
“What’re you working on?” Svar asks as she walks into the room. She grabs some dried meat, and walks behind me to look over my shoulder.  
I lift the book up to her. “List of all the items I’m aware of. I’ve got a good memory, but I figured you guys could use a copy. Don’t lose this thing though. I’d prefer it get destroyed than lost.”  
Svar nods seriously. “I can see how that would be a problem. Be sure to tell Serana when you give it to her.” She tosses the book back to me.  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You don’t want it?”  
She shakes her head. “Ascalon is the only weapon I need. Sure the invisibility ring is nice, but I don’t want to over rely on magic items.”  
I nod in agreement. “Same here. They’re useful, until you don’t have access to them. Then they become a crutch.”  
Svar nods. “Exactly.” Her eyes unfocus, and she hurries to finish her meal. “Gotta go. Training.”  
She gives me a quick kiss, then leaves the room.  
I turn back to my book, and finish writing down all the items I can remember. I finish up right as I hear someone approaching.   
Vampire hearing is great.  
“Dusk.” Serana greets. “I assume Svarline has already begun her training?”  
I close the book and stand up. “Yep, and here. Don’t lose that. Destruction is far preferable to someone else getting their hands on it.” I say as I hand her the book.  
Her crimson eyes scan over it, and widen slightly. “I will memorize this, then burn it.” She looks at me with genuine gratitude. “Thank you Dusk.”  
I nod. “You’re welcome. Now, I’m going to go enchant the basilisk cloak, so I’ll be busy for an hour or so. I’ll meet you at the portal after the fact.”  
Serana gives me a sly smirk. “An hour? I made yours in ten minutes.”  
I give her a deadpan stare. “I’m still improving, whereas you’ve been perfecting your magic for thousands of years. I’d be more concerned if I could beat you. Anyway, see ya later.” I give her a light kiss before I head off to find a place to enchant my cloak.  
Serana hums contentedly and sits down at the table with her book.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly.  
I finished my cloak, which actually turned out pretty well.

Enchanted Basilisk Hide Cloak  
Rare Item  
This cloak was made from basilisk hide. It is extremely difficult to tear or rip, and is resistant to weaker magic.  
This cloak has been enchanted to be even more durable, and to provide much more shade than normal.

Aside from that, I just worked on the portal. Serana joined me after a couple of hours when she had finished memorizing the book I gave her, and Svar trained with Paarthurnax for the entire day.  
The next few days passed much the same way. Svar trained, and Serana and I worked on the portal some more.  
Four days after their original passing, Paarthurnax spotted the four vampire scouts, as well as three more we couldn’t find last time, once more. They didn’t stop this time though. They just ran right past us in the direction of Morthal.  
We all breathed a sigh of relief at that. It seems our location is secure for the time being.  
Vizier also became available again, but I haven’t used it yet. I’m fairly certain I want to stay a vampire, but I’m not completely sure yet, so I decided to wait a little longer.  
Currently, it’s been a day since the vampires ran past, and Svar, Serana, and I are sitting around a table discussing what we want to do next.  
“I’d really prefer we not leave the Temple for awhile. I’m not as interested in going treasure hunting as you two are, and I’d rather spend the time training.” Svar finishes her statement with a sigh.  
I look at Serana. “I’m with Svar. We’ve dedicated a lot to the portal. I’d prefer we get it done while we’ve got time, rather than later. I’d also like some time to work on abjuration, and I can’t really do that if we spend too long on the road.”  
Serana hums. “True, but several of the items you wrote of were simply laying there. When I originally broached this idea, I had anticipated a battle much like our duel with Morokei. With both The Staff of Magnus and Yamato however, it is possible we could attain several items with little to no effort. I wish to complete the portal quickly as well, but I feel we should take advantage of this knowledge.”  
I let out a long sigh. “I’m pretty sure I made it clear that I can’t guarantee anything is where I said it would be. If we go galavanting around Skyrim and come up empty handed, we’ll have done nothing but wasted time. Whereas if we finish the portal, we’ll not only be able to free your mother, but we’ll have a working connection to the Soul Cairn to do whatever the hell we want with.”  
Serana grips her chin, and leans back to think.  
After a moment she nods. “Very well. My desire to see my mother again outweighs my desire to obtain any of the items on your list. I believe it is best we stay here. Both to work on the portal, and allow the three of us to train.”  
Svar raises an eyebrow at Serana. “What do you need to train for? You’re by far the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”  
Serana smiles at her. “I am immortal Svarline. If I allow myself to stagnate merely because I have time to spare, I will soon find myself surpassed, and likely dead. Since I quite enjoy my unlife, I will endeavor to ensure it lasts as long as is feasibly possible.”  
I sit up straighter as I take in a deep breath. “Ok. So we’re staying here, working on the portal, and training. Did I get that right?”  
Svar and Serana both nod.  
“You and I will need to venture outside the Temple every two or so weeks in order to feed.” Serana says while looking at me. “However, that will not prove too difficult so long as we are cautious.”  
“I’m going with you whenever the two of you leave.” Svar says in a tone that dares us to refute her. “I stayed out of it the first time because Dusk was still getting used to everything, but now that he has, I’m going with you.”  
Serana and I nod at her.  
“Good.” Svar says as she stands. “It’s late, and I’m tired. We’ll get started on everything in the morning.” She leads the way down the hall, and the three of us turn in for the night.

(Interlude: Farengar Secret Fire)

It’s all his fault. Everything. All of it!  
I’m better than him! He’s weaker than me!  
I don’t know how he did it, but it had to be a trick of some kind. There’s no other logical explanation!  
I scratch under my eye patch as the irritation returns.  
I need to get the Jarl back on my side. I don’t know how that filth was able to sway his opinion, but I have to undo whatever enchantment has been placed on the Jarl. Whiterun can’t afford to be influenced by him.

It’s too late for Balgruuf. Just as you dealt with Proventus, you must deal with Balgruuf.

The gentle voice caresses my mind once more.  
She’s right. She’s always right. Proventus was a traitor who consorted with him. He had to go, so I killed him. I can’t afford to kill anyone else with Irileth sniffing around though. That seer bitch she drinks with might start poking around too, and I can’t afford that.  
Besides, I can’t kill Balgruuf when he’s not here. He sent Irileth back early, but he stayed in Solitude. Not only did he stay, but he didn’t tell me why!   
She’s right. Balgruuf has to be in league with him. Why else would he exclude his most trusted advisor from his plans?

He abandoned you. Is it really betrayal for you to claim his life as payment?

No. No, it’s justice.  
I scratch my scarred skin once more as my face becomes irritated.  
His fault, and I will make him pay!

Patience my Champion. My blade is not yet returned to its full glory. You locked it away for far too long.

Once more, I curse my own idiocy.  
Had I not sealed the blade away to begin with, I would already have enough strength to retake that which is mine. I was foolish and weak in the past. Believing the sword to be evil because of its origin, but had I used the blade from the start, I would have slain that pretender with ease.

Do not lament the past Champion. You must look to the future.

She’s right. I need to prepare. I need to throw Irileth off the trail, or take care of her too. Then, I only need to wait until the sword is restored.  
Once it is strong once more, I will use it to return Whiterun to what it should be. I will free this city of his taint, and remove anyone who would try to destroy the paradise I will create.

Soon my Champion. Soon… 

I grin.  
Soon indeed my Lady.

(Interlude: Aela the Huntress)

  
We had been on the trail for almost a full week since we left the Hall of the Vigilant.  
It’s currently night, but we haven’t stopped yet. It’s not as if the lack of light will slow our progress, and Skjor and I can go days without rest.  
Thinking of Skjor draws a soft growl from me. I’m still pissed at him for how we handled the Hall.  
Sure, I didn’t care for the people that were killed. Those pack killing pricks can rot for all I care. No, I care because something was happening, but Skjor paid it, and my counsel, no mind.  
I’m pulled from my thoughts as I hear a figure moving off to my right.  
Skjor freezes, and drops low.  
He must have heard it too.  
I join him, and the two of us creep behind a large bush.   
I slowly raise my head to peer over the bush.  
I see four figures lazily walking through the woods. They are lightly armored, but heavily armed. Each of them carries a bow, a quiver, a sword, and a belt of daggers.  
What is most alarming however, is their eyes. All four pairs are red as blood, and filled with an obsessive hunger.  
Very slowly, so as to not alert their finely tuned ears to my movements, I turn to Skjor.  
I use hand signs to communicate what I see.  
Four Vampires. Heavily armed. Three-hundred feet. Unsure of backup.  
He nods calmly, and clenches his fist slowly.  
I nod in turn, and close my eyes.  
We would be hard pressed to defeat this group as we are. If there were only two? We could prevail, but since there are more, we will need to actually try.  
I feel my bones snap, and feel elation as the change comes.  
My weapons fall away from my form, and my furs tear off my body as they were designed to do.  
Beside me, Skjor lets loose a challenging roar into the night sky.  
I feel my snout elongate, and raise my neck to join his call.  
We turn as one to face the oncoming vampires.  
This is going to be fun.  
Two of the vamps stop a little over fifty feet from us and draw their bows. The other two continue running towards us, their fangs bared.  
Skjor and I drop to all fours and charge.  
I feel a pinprick as an arrow digs into my body, but ignore it.  
Once in range, I pounce at my opponent, but the nimble vamp dodges.   
He dashes in towards my exposed left flank with his sword drawn in an attempt to land a strike, but I have him right where I want him.  
As soon as he moves in, I bring my right forepaw around and slash through his pale skin.   
I grin a toothy grin as I descend upon his downed form.  
Stupid vamps. They over rely on their speed every time.  
I tear his unbeating heart from his chest, and devour it whole.   
Skjor joins me. A severed head in his maw. He growls towards the remaining vamps, and crushes the skull between his jaws.  
Watching the vamps panic fills me with anticipation.   
They begin to run, but werewolves are very fast when we want to be.  
We catch them quickly, and bring them down from behind. Tearing into them with tooth, and with claw.  
Soon enough, there is nothing left of them but two meaty puddles of blood and bone.  
I revel in the taste of their flesh, but am broken from my revelry when my eyes focus upon their breast plates.  
I force the change, and return to my humanoid form. I walk over to their breastplates, and pry the symbols off of their chests.  
Fuming, I storm over to where Skjor is still messily eating the leg of one of the vamps.  
“Skjor.” I growl.  
He ignores me.  
I walk up to him, and punch him right in the nose.  
He turns to me with a furious growl, but I ignore his display. Shoving forth the two symbols I pried off the vampire’s armor.  
“Do you still wish to turn a blind eye to this issue?” I seethe at him.  
I throw the two symbols at his feet.  
The green triskelion of Morthal shines up at him from its position next to Potema’s wolf.  
He freezes as he comprehends what he sees.  
Slowly, he changes back. His matted fur giving way to blood stained skin. He looks me in the eyes. “We need to report this to the Harbinger.”  
I glare at him. “Had you listened to me, we already would have.”  
He holds my gaze. “Your opinions of me are unimportant right now. We need to retrieve our weapons, and make for Whiterun.” He turns and walks away without waiting for my response.  
I watch his back move further away, then down to the symbols at my feet. Finally, I look out into the woods.  
I hope those two haven’t gotten themselves eaten.

(Interlude: Sam Guevenne)

The jester scratches his head through his hat. “Well this isn’t supposed to be like this.” He says.  
My friend scratches his silver adorned chin from the jester’s side. “Maybe if we blow on it really hard it’ll go away?”  
The jester nods up and down. “Can’t hurt to try!”  
They both inhale deeply, then blow upon the flaming structure.  
Their breath does absolutely nothing.  
“Well fiddlesticks!” My friend cries. “I thought for sure that would work!”  
I tilt my head as I observe the devastation once more. The entire structure has collapsed. Every piece of wood is alight with dragonflame, and the stone has been melted to slag in some places.  
“Maybe your family is waiting for us on the road?” I say.  
Cicero shakes his head sadly. “Nope. They didn’t know I was coming. They didn’t know Mother was coming. Surely they would have waited if they knew Mother was coming.”  
I grip my chin, and turn to the box at my side. The fire licking at it leaves no marks.  
“What would you like us to do madam? You certainly cannot be allowed to live here. As such, we have not yet seen you home. No one shall ever say Sam Guevenne and Sheo are anything but gentlemen, so where shall we accompany you to next?”  
The box continues to sit in the fire. Not burning, and refusing to answer.  
I nod understandingly. “Take all the time you need dear.”  
It can’t be easy for her to see her place of residence in ruins, so it’s understandable if she does not speak immediately.  
“Look Sammy!” My friend calls.  
I turn to him, and find him pointing towards a stone overhang. “It’s a small You!”  
He disappears, and I hear a high-pitched shriek. Moments later, a young girl who couldn’t be more than eight years old flees from the overhang in terror.  
I step in front of her and kneel down to her level. “Hello little one!” I say cheerily.  
She runs into me and throws her arms around me. She begins sobbing into my shoulder.  
She. Is. So. Cute!  
I pat the back of her head with my hand. “There there little one. The crazy man won’t hurt you anymore.”  
“Thank you!” My friend tips a freshly appeared hat at my compliment.  
I give him a nod in return, before turning my attention back to the girl. “What’s your name little one?” I ask with a patented Sam Guevenne smile on my face.  
The little blond haired girl looks up at me with tear stained blue eyes. “A..a...Agatha.” She stutters out.  
I give her another pat on the head. “Do you want to come with me Agatha?”  
“NO! She doesn’t!” My friend appears at my side. “She wants to go with me!”  
Agatha yelps again, and jumps back into my arms.  
I turn to Sheo with a victorious smile. “I win.”  
He pouts slightly. “That’s prettyness to cancer now.” He says sadly.  
“Nope!” Cicero calls from where he still sifts through the fire. “It’s prettyness to pottery.”  
My friend gives him a grateful nod. “Thank you Cicero ‘ol pal.” He turns back to me. “Prettyness to pottery.”  
I nod triumphantly, and carry my new Agatha back to the box. “Agatha, this is a very dear friend of mine. Agatha, meet Raven. Raven, this lovely little lady is Agatha.”  
Agatha looks between me and the box with trepidation.  
Poor little thing. Sheo probably scared her into silence.  
I smile, and pat her head comfortingly. “Don’t worry little one. You can meet Raven later.” I turn back to the box. “Have you decided where you would like to go madam?”  
Before she can answer, two very loud roars echo out over the area.  
I sigh in annoyance, and turn to face our new arrivals.  
At my side, Agatha trembles in terror as the two dragons land.  
The mated pair move forward slowly as they study us.  
“Zu’u nis saraan wah du niin.” The male says.  
I narrow my eyes at him. “You will not be eating anything lizard. You’re intruding on our space, which is quite rude.”  
“Quite rude!” My friend reiterates as he appears at my side. “Why dontcha fly back to Fantastica so you can screw Falkor or something?”  
The dragons pull back in shock. “You speak our tongue?” The female asks flabbergasted.  
I let out an irritated sigh. “Just leave. Killing you will leave a mess.” I wave them dismissed and turn back to Agatha.  
The poor girl is stock still. She must be cold. There’s no other possible reason for her to…   
Wait…  
aRE TheSE DraGOnS ScaRINg mY LiTtLE GirL?!  
I robotically turn back to the dragons.  
“You scared my Agatha.” I say coldly.  
At my side, Sheo’s joyful demeanor is exchanged for one of sanity.  
The box behind me begins to give off a terrifying aura.  
The two dragons sputter as they come under the effect of our combined assault.  
“Rah! Mu los krosis dreh ni…” The male tries to grovel.  
“Die.” Sheo, Myself, and Raven say as one.  
Both dragons freeze in place. They stay that way for a moment, before they collapse into each other. The ground shakes as the two massive bodies fall.  
“Aha!”  
We turn to see Cicero with a note in his hand.  
“I knew they wouldn’t leave Mother without telling us their plans! Even without knowing Mother is coming they still allow Mother to follow!” Sheo and I crowd around the jester’s shoulders while he reads the note.  
“Let’s see here…” He begins. “Two onions, five deathbells, six steaks, two spools of thread, three jugs of goat’s milk, seven heads of lettuce, five iron ingots, two pounds of flour, and one whetstone.”  
“Hmmm.” I scratch my chin. “As expected of assassins. It’s in code.”  
Cicero bobs his head up and down. “Yep! They wouldn’t want just anyone to know where they’re going now would they?”  
“It seems we are needed still Sammy Boy!” Sheo says. He runs to a flaming rock, and jumps atop it. He points his arm out to the horizon and speaks. “We must escort the lovely lady to her new castle! Last one to the moat loses seven bagels!” He takes off running.  
I tilt my head, and turn back to the box. “He forgot to bring the coded message.”  
Cicero skips over to me, and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “He’ll beat us there! Don’t doubt ‘ol red vest!”  
A loud *pop* emanates from my left as my friend reappears.   
He gives Cicero a deep bow. “Thank you for your confidence sir!” He disappears with a second *pop*.  
Cicero turns to me with a wide smile. “See!”  
I nod. “Yes, I see.” I clap my hands. “Agatha. We’re leaving. Make sure your shoes are tied or you’ll trip.”  
The girl walks over to me in a daze, and takes my hand.  
The jester, the box, the girl, and the god followed after the madman.  
I love the mortal realm!


	17. 17

“Fucking finally!” I exclaim as I fall heavily against the wall.   
Serana smiles widely as she looks upon our work. “We’ve done it.”  
“Great.” A tired Svar says. “I’m going to sleep. We’ll deal with whatever step two is when I wake up.” She leaves without another word.  
Serana stares transfixed at the swirling violet hole in the ground. “I must admit, I am having trouble believing we were actually able to accomplish this.” She turns to me with a manic gleam in her eyes. “We created a portal to the Soul Cairn.”  
I nod as I push off the wall. “Yes we did, and I’m really happy we did, but I need a break. I’m just going to sit in a broom closet and do nothing for a while.”  
Serana chuckles and turns back to the portal. “Feel free to rest Dusk. You have more than earned it.”  
I nod and leave the room. At the threshold of the door, I stop and turn around. “Hey.” I say.  
Serana turns from the portal to regard me. “Hmm?”  
“Don’t go in there without us.” I say seriously. “I know you want to see your mom, but we’ll get her together.”  
She gives me a soft smile. “Thank you for your concern Dusk, but I assure you I will not try to free her on my own. I will wait until both yourself and Svarline are prepared to accompany me.”  
I nod. “Good. I’ll see you after I take a minute to breath.”  
She gives a wave over her shoulder and turns back to the portal.  
I walk down the hall to my broom closet, and collapse into a heap on the ground.  
That. Fucking. Sucked.  
We’ve been working on that damn thing for months. I know I was the one who suggested it, but come on. I had no idea what I was signing on for. Hell, I haven’t slept in… holy shit I haven’t slept since we started this thing have I?  
I let out a small groan, and sat up with my back against a wall.  
I’ve been too busy to sleep. Serana and I would work on the portal through the night while Svar slept. Then Svar would train with Paarthurnax for a couple hours and join us before going back to sleep.  
The only times I took breaks to train were after our hunts, so I guess I didn’t really take breaks. At least the training paid off a little bit. I got some new stuff from Abjurer, some new vampire stuff for draining people, and some new perks from stat points.  
I pull up my character sheet to look over all my new stuff.

Dual Wield-700 STR perk  
You may dual wield weapons, even if they typically require two hands to use properly

Unnatural Regeneration-700 END perk  
Your vampiric traits grant your HP/SP regen an additional increase of x2

Physics Defying-600 DEX perk  
You may run and jump across objects that would otherwise not support your weight, or would fall away from you.

Deft Step-700 DEX perk  
You movements make no sound unless you want them to

Awakened-1000 INT perk  
All spells are 30% stronger  
You will receive no additional perks for your INT stat

Second Chance-1000 WIS perk  
Once per day, if you are dealt a killing blow, the blow will be negated.  
You will receive no additional perks for your WIS stat

Flaw [Greed] lost for reaching 1100 WIS

Motivational-600 CHA perk  
There is something about you that draws others to your banner. Recruitment attempts will be easier.

Plot Advancement-600 LUK perk  
You have a tendency to meet people important to the world you are currently in

[Hypnotic Gaze]  
Look into the eyes of weak willed mortals and plant suggestions into their mind that must be obeyed. The target will have no memory of the encounter

[Feline Feet]  
Fall damage is reduced to one-fourth normal

[Restoration]  
Costs 1000 MP  
Remove a curse, petrification, insanity, or exhaustion from the target

[Healing Ward]  
Costs 400 MP  
Creates a ward around the target that protects them from damage, as well as healing them 30 HP per second.

[Empowering Aura]  
Costs 250 MP  
Allies within a 20’ radius of you are surrounded in an invisible defensive shield that, while active, increases their defensive stats by 10%

[Negative Zone]  
Costs 2500 MP  
Takes 2 hours to cast  
Creates a zone that negates teleportation of all who are not registered as friendly

[Safe Zone]  
Costs 3000 MP  
Takes 2 hours to cast  
Prevents beings from entering the affected area. Only those registered as friendly may bypass this ward without issue.

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 251  
Class- Abjurer - LVL 53/100 [6%]  
Crafting Class- N/A [0%]  
Race- Vampire Lord  
Tier- Immortal  
Alignment- True Neutral  
HP- 17600 [10560 per minute]  
MP- 23320 [17490 per minute]  
SP- 17600 [10560 per minute]  
STR- 874  
END- 880  
DEX - 765  
INT - 1166  
WIS - 1166  
CHA - 650  
LUK - 654  
MP Regen= WIS x 15  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x (6x2)=12  
SP/HP= END x 20

It’s advancement, but not nearly as much as I wanted from spending nearly five months in this place. I didn’t train nearly as much as I wanted to which slowed down my leveling. I’d only jump in an ID when we got back from hunting every other week, and even then only for an hour or so before I went back to the portal. It’s better than nothing though, and we finally got the damn portal working. I’m alright with this.  
Besides, I lost Greed. That on it’s own is almost enough to make up for the slow leveling. It was annoying as hell, and I’m glad I lost it before it screwed me over in any significant way. If getting 1100 in stats is how I lose all my flaws, then I need to get strength up so I can get rid of martially inept.  
I take a deep breath and look up at the ceiling.  
We really just made a portal to the Soul Cairn didn’t we? Jesus Christ.  
I guess we actually have to worry about how we’re going to travel around now. Serana and I should be fine, but I don’t know how we’re going to get Svar through the thing. I doubt any of us are willing to run the risk of soul trapping her, so we’re going to have to get creative.  
The three of us already discussed this while we worked. Svar was going to pick at Paarthurnax’s brain to see if he had an answer, and was pretty adamant about not being turned into a vampire. She said she’d, ‘make her own way’. Not quite sure what she meant by that, but she was determined about it, so I support her. Means we have to find an alternate way to get her through though.  
Actually, I still have this month’s Vizier don’t I? We can just use that I guess.  
Speaking of Vizier, I’ve used it three times while we’ve been finishing the portal. The first question I used to track down dremora parts. The only place I knew of that had actual dremora inside it was Clavicus Vile’s shrine, and I didn’t want to piss him off by cutting it up with Yamato.   
The second question, I used to figure out if Valerica can be freed the same way as in the game. It’s kind of important information. Had we showed up expecting to kill Keepers, and instead had to destroy some special crystal, we would’ve had some serious problems.  
The answer I received confirmed that we would have to kill Keepers, and that there were only three. It might seem like a waste of a question, but I wasn’t willing to risk anything.  
The third question, I used to ask about Durnehviir. He only showed up in the game when the force field came down, but I doubted he’d give us any breathing room if he spotted us. I wanted to know how effective he would be in a battle against us, and whether or not he’d be protecting the Keepers.  
Surprisingly, I was told that Durenhviir would be a non-issue. As long as we didn’t step on his toes, he’d be likely to leave us alone. I guess it kind of makes sense though. The guy was cheated and enslaved by the Ideal Masters, so it’s unlikely he actually holds any loyalty for them.  
I was a little put off by using up my Vizier questions without asking for a way to free myself from Molag Bal, but we needed solid information before we entered the Soul Cairn. Besides, I’m immortal now. So long as I don’t get myself killed, I’ll have plenty of time to free myself from Molag. Hell, Valerica will probably be able to help.  
We have to free her first though.  
I let out another sigh as I closed my eyes.  
I was saving my last Vizier for information on the Soul Cairn in general. I doubt it’s like the game with only three enemy types, and it would be really nice to know what all we’ll have to fight in there. At the same time we need a way to get Svar through without turning her. I’m still not sure what her hang up is about becoming a vampire, but I’m not going to press her into something she obviously doesn’t want to do.   
I guess I’ll just have to use Vizier to get her through. We’ll worry about what’s on the other side when we’re on the other side.  
I let out one last sigh as I stood.  
I exit the broom closet and head back to our room.  
I enter, and find Serana asleep next to Svar.  
Moving silently so as not to disturb them, I lie down beside them and close my eyes.  
I’ll worry about all of this when we wake up. The two of them will be able to throw in their input, which will help.  
Besides, while I don’t need sleep, I’m really fucking tired right now.

The three of us wake up after around ten hours, grab something to eat/drink, and head to the portal room.  
We stand around the swirling vortex and just stare at it for a while.  
Svar shakes her head. “I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet that we actually finished this thing. It feels like we’ve been working on it for a year.”  
Serana chuckles. “A year is less time to me than it is to either of you. I am amazed we were able to complete it so quickly, and with such ease.”  
“It’s done.” I say. “That’s all I really care about. This thing has been a headache and a half.”   
Svar tilts her head as she looks at it. “When are we going through?” She asks no one in particular.  
“As soon as possible.” Serana says almost instantly. “We are as prepared as we can feasibly be, and I feel it best we take care of this now.” She turns to me. “You still possess the bodies of those we did not drain, yes? My mother will have not fed in hundreds of years. She will have been able to sustain herself with her blood magic and necromancy, but she will be starved. I would rather she feed on dead bandits than any of us.”  
I nod. “I’ve got plenty of dead bodies in my inventory, so no need to worry about that.” I think for a moment, then nod again. “I’m of the same mind as Serana. We need to get this done sooner rather than later, so I’d like to go as early as we can. We will need to figure out a way to get Svar through.” I turn to Svar. “Did Paarthurnax have any ideas that could work.”  
She shakes her head. “Necromancy isn’t something he ever dabbled in, so he’s as lost as we are. We’ll have to figure something else out.”  
Serana hums. “It seems it is a good thing you saved your seeing ability Dusk. I cannot see another way to get Svarline through the portal.”  
I nod. “Looks that way. I’ll ask for a way to let her in and back out unmolested in any way by the Ideal Masters, the realm itself, and without any lasting damage to herself. Sounds good?”  
Svar and Serana nod, and I ask the question.  
I hear whispering in the back of my head. Three words repeated over and over.  
“Sil vaaz gron.” I say aloud.  
Serana and Svar turn to me.  
“Is that a shout?” Svar asks.  
I nod somberly.  
Serana narrows her eyes. “What does it do?”  
I look up to meet their gaze. “It will essentially tear the person’s soul from their body, and bind it to the location it was removed. If Svar uses it on herself, she’ll be able to enter, and move through the Soul Cairn unhindered.”  
“But…” Svar prompts.  
I turn to look at her. “For one the process is going to suck for you. You’re tearing your soul out, so it won’t be a very pleasant experience.”  
“I can handle pain.” She says with conviction.  
“For another point,” I start again. “you’ll be without your soul when we go through. You will literally have to leave it behind. That’ll essentially ‘kill’ you, and allow you to move through the Soul Cairn with us, but you’ll be significantly weaker. I’m not sure your shouts will function properly if you do this. They’re kind of reliant on your dragon soul, which you’ll have to leave behind in order to enter.”  
Svar puts a hand on her chin and thinks for a moment. She turns to me with an intent gaze. “This is the only way?” She asks.  
I nod. “This is the only thing my ability showed me. Unless you’ve changed your mind about letting Serana turn you, this is our only option.”  
She nods her head. “Ok. Do you have an estimate of how much weaker I’ll be?”  
“Weak.” Serana speaks up. “You will be without your soul. For all intents and purposes, your body will be that of a raised undead. You will still have access to your magic, though it will feel further away than you are used to, and Dusk is right. Your thu’um will most likely be greatly affected by this change.” Serana shakes her head slightly. “Please Svarline, let me turn you. I do not want you to take unnecessary risks.”  
Svar smiles, but shakes her head. “Thanks for worrying, but I’ll be fine.” She turns back to face me. “You can place some protections on the area where I’ll leave my soul right?”  
I nod. “I can, but are you sure you want to do this? You are going to be a walking husk for the entire time we’re in there.”  
Svar takes a deep breath, and nods. “I’m not letting you two go in there alone, so this is the only way.”  
I can respect her wish to not become a vampire, but I’d prefer to find a way to cure her later than to carry on with this. I’m really uncomfortable with letting her rip her soul out.  
“Svar…” I try to speak up.  
“I’m not letting you go in there without me.” She cuts me off and looks me in the eye.  
“I wasn’t going to say that.” I say calmly. “I was going to say that this has the potential to go wrong. I understand you don’t want to become a vampire, but at the very least we could turn you for this, then wait a month to ask for a way to change you back. Why are you so set on this?”  
She looks between Serana and I. “No offense meant to either of you, but I don’t want to be undead. I also don’t want to have to run from the sun. I’m a dragon. Giving that up just feels… wrong.” She turns back to me. “I can’t explain why, but I just can’t be a vampire.”  
I held her gaze for a moment longer, before I let out a sigh. “Give me a few hours to get the spells cast, then be ready with the shout. As soon as it takes effect we’ll need to go. I don’t know what the consequences of being without your soul for too long are, but I’d rather not find out.”  
Serana shakes her head. “Svarline will be fine so long as we return before a week has passed. As I do not believe our journey will take more than a day or two, the risk is minimal. It is still existent however, so we should not tarry unnecessarily.” Serana narrows her eyes at me. “That is assuming of course that we know how to return her soul to her body. Did your ability show you how we could accomplish this?”  
I nod. “Yes. It’s rather crude, but we essentially just shove it back in with soul magic. Between the two of us, it won’t be a problem. It’ll be even easier if your mom helps us.”  
Serana nods. “Then I believe this is our best option, and while I have my misgivings about the action, I believe we should begin as soon as we can.”  
I let out a sigh, and looked at Svar. “I’m going to start casting my protection spells. Do whatever you need to to get ready. Serana’s right. The second we do this, we’re going through the portal. From there, we’ll travel in a straight line to her mom. There’s not really anything else in that place that interests me right now.”  
Svar tilts her head curiously. “Out of curiosity, what else is in there?”  
I chuckle. “It’s the Soul Cairn, so there’s probably a lot of shit in it, but nothing I want. There’s a ghost horse, but we can get him out when Serana’s mom is safe.”  
Arvak is a good horse, but Valerica takes priority right now. Besides him though? Nothing in that hellscape is all that appealing to me. I haven’t been using soul gems, and everything else would only be useful to me if I was a lower level. As it is, I can get everything I remember from that place on my own. If we leave with only Valerica I’ll be happy.  
I scrunch my eyebrows as something occurs to me.  
How the hell are we going to know where to look for her? The place might be scaled up, and the castle might not be a castle.  
I turn to Serana. “How are we going to find her? The portal should take us relatively close, but that doesn’t mean she’ll be in sight.”  
Serana smiles. “Leave that to me. Blood magic is very useful for finding those who share your own blood.”  
I nod.  
I guess I should get started on those protection spells if we want to leave today.  
“I’ll let you both know when I finish prepping the area. See you then.”  
They both give me a wave, and I leave.  
Once I’m far enough down the hall to be out of vampire hearing range, I sigh softly.  
This seems like such a bad idea. We’re tearing her soul out and leaving it behind. In what universe does that sound like a good idea?  
I sigh again.  
As stupid as it sounds to say, at least the process is safe. Vizier told me of everything that could go wrong, and none of that will really happen unless Svar messes up the shout somehow.  
I arrive in a small room, and begin casting every area protection spell I have.  
I really hope this doesn’t end badly for us.

(Serana)

Dusk leaves the room with an air of uncertainty around him.  
I cannot say I blame him. I am not thrilled about our current plan either.  
“Svarline.” I say once Dusk has gone. “Are you certain you wish to go through with this? There are a number of things that could go wrong. Both during the process itself, and during our journey. It is impossible to know when we will find my mother, and I would rather you not be in danger for that time.”  
Svarline turns to me with a sad smile on her face. “I’ll be fine. Besides, you and Dusk will have my back right? If anything happens, I know you’ll save my ass.”  
I let out a soft sigh, and step closer to her. I hold her gaze as I speak. “When we are in the Soul Cairn, you will inform Dusk and myself of any issue you have. If the struggle proves to be too much for you, we will return immediately.”  
Svarline shakes her head. “I’ll be fine. We’re not leaving until we get your mother out.”  
I narrow my eyes at her. “You will inform us of any problems you experience. If you are in distress, we will return immediately. My mother has taken care of herself in that place for hundreds of years. If she has to wait a week longer to ensure her rescuers do not kill themselves, I am sure she will find a way to manage. Is that clear?”  
She stares back at me for a time, before she breaks eye contact. “Fine.” She says. “I’ll tell you if anything happens.”  
I nod. “Good. Now familiarize yourself with the words of your new shout. I do not wish to risk a mistake in it’s utterance.”  
She raises an eyebrow at me. “Since when did you start ordering me around?” She asks with a grin.  
I stare back with a blank face. “Since you decided it would be a good idea to rip your soul from your body. Now study your shout. I will be displeased if you tear yourself asunder instead of simply separating yourself.”  
She nods. “I’ll be careful.” She turns to leave the room and throws a wave over her shoulder. “See you when everything’s ready.”  
I watch her exit the room, and listen to her steps until they echo out of range. I walk over to a chair and sit down.  
I do not like this. I do not like this at all. There is far too much that can go wrong, and we will be too far from her soul to remedy any problems in time. This is without knowing what dangers the Soul Cairn may pose.  
Dusk has spoken of what his knowledge has provided him during our construction of the portal, but he made it very clear he is uncertain whether or not his knowledge will prove valuable.  
The part he is sure about regards these, ‘Keepers’. From what he has told me, there are three of them, and each is responsible for my mother’s imprisonment. We will need to kill every single one of them if we wish to free my mother.   
One thing Dusk was not certain of regarding the creatures, was their strength. He believes they will be strong, but not too powerful for our group to defeat. I hope he is right.  
I stand, and begin pacing.  
We are moving into an unfamiliar plane, while Svarline is weakened, with information that may prove false. I do not like this. The reward must be great for me to attempt expeditions such as this.  
My mother is worth it.  
She is trapped just as I was. The fact that we placed ourselves in this situation is of no consequence. She has hidden herself from the world to stop that monster’s advance, and I will not abandon her to her fate.  
But I do not wish for Svarline and Dusk to die saving her.  
I cease my pacing, and close my eyes.  
I will free my mother, and I will protect Dusk and Svarline as they protect me. The four of us will emerge from that hell together.  
We will do this, and none of us will die. I will not allow it.

(Dusk)

I finish casting the final spell, and take a deep breath.  
Last chance to stall. If I tell them we’re ready, then we start.  
Fuck.  
I activate my soul magic and start to track down Svar and Serana.  
Serana is still in the portal room, and starts moving towards me the moment I move towards her. I change direction to get Svar, but she’s also already moving my way.  
It just sunk in how OP our collective x-ray and wallhack shenanigans are.  
I lean against the wall and wait for the two of them to arrive.  
They both enter at the same time, and the three of us stand in silence for a moment.  
I look at Svar. “Last chance to say no.” I tell her.  
She nods. “Let’s do this.” She walks into the center of the room, and closes her eyes.  
I move to stand next to Serana in order to give her some space.  
Serana and I watch in silence as Svar slows her breathing, then slowly opens her eyes.  
“SIL VAAZ GRON.” She intones quietly, yet powerfully.  
The moment the words leave Svar’s mouth, she cries out in pain. She falls to her knees, and long thick ribbons of golden energy begin to fly from her body.  
Svar raises her face to the sky, and begins screaming.  
Serana moves to assist her, but I put an arm in her path.  
There’s nothing we can do now but stand and watch. If we try to help, all we’ll end up doing is screwing up the effect.  
Serana looks at me for a moment, before nodding sharply. She takes a small step back, and the two of us continue to watch as Svar’s soul is slowly ripped from her body.  
After what feels like an eternity of watching Svar scream, the energy stops flowing from Svar, and coalesces in the center of the room. Svar’s eyes roll back, and she starts to fall the rest of the way to the ground, but Serana and I have already sped across the distance to catch her.  
“Svarline. Speak to us. Are you alright?” Serana asks quickly.  
I use my vampiric senses to analyze Svar. Her blood is still flowing, her heart is still beating, and she’s still breathing, but I can no longer feel her soul inside her body.  
The shout worked.  
“I...I’ll be fine.” Svar mumbles weakly as she pulls herself from Serana and I’s grasp. “I just need a minute.” She pulls herself to her feet, and begins to stare at the concentrated golden energy in the center of the room.  
I follow her gaze, and see a second Svar standing there. This version is made of countless ribbons of golden light that weave in and out of each other. The spectral Svar does nothing. Just stands there, and stares off into nothingness.  
“So that’s my soul huh?” Svar says softly. “I was expecting something a little… more. That’s just me, but glowy.” She sounds disappointed in herself.  
I turn from the golden specter to face her. “And like you, it’s beautiful.”  
“And unrelenting.” Serana says as she stands. “Both are wondrous qualities.”  
Svar smiles between us. “Thanks.” She takes a deep breath, and suddenly she's focused. “Are we ready?”  
“Not yet.” I say. “Test your magic and thu’um before we go through. Better now, than when we’re in combat.”  
She nods, and holds out her hand. A wooden chair in the corner of the room begins to reshape itself. Soon, a small table was created from it’s parts.  
Svar frowns. “That was a lot slower than usual.”  
“It is to be expected.” Serana says softly. “It is discomforting I am sure, but you must push past it.”  
Svar nods, and looks at a wall. “Koraav.” She pans her gaze across the stone’s surface, and frowns once more. “I can barely see anything. Before, I could see all the way out past the old forsworn camp. Now, I can’t even see the whole temple.”  
“It’s temporary.” I say. “I know this sucks, but it’ll be over with once we’re out of the Soul Cairn.”  
Svar nods. “Then let’s get this over with.”  
The three of us walk to the portal room in silence. The atmosphere is somber, and serious. We’re about to go to one of The Elder Scrolls’s hells, so it’s understandable really.  
When we get to the portal, a pouting Mr. Rogers is sitting there waiting for us.   
I smile sadly as I walk forward. “Sorry I can’t take you bud, but I’m not willing to risk the ghost dimension hurting you at all. Make sure to protect Svar’s soul alright?”  
He nods up and down, and rubs his head under my hand for a moment.  
I chuckle, and scratch him behind the ears.  
He pulls back with a serious bark, then leaves the room in the direction we just came from.  
Don’t worry buddy. I’ll be careful.  
I walk to the edge of the portal and lean over it to look inside.  
There is a floating staircase that leads down into a violet oblivion. Just like in the game.  
“We are as prepared as we can be.” Serana says as she walks up beside me. “Let us go before Svarline suffers anymore.”  
I nod. “Let’s do this.”

Quest added  
[The Soul Cairn!]  
You have managed to obtain access to the Soul Cairn!  
Objective- Free Valerica from the Ideal Masters  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Rewards- ?,?  
Bonus Rewards- ?,?,?,?,?  
Failure- Serana will cry, then you will die.

Well I don’t want Serana to cry, so I better not fuck this up. Dying would probably suck too I guess.  
Svar, Serana, and I descend the staircase, and are absorbed by the swirling violet energy around us.  
I feel myself being pulled, and suddenly I’m standing on a floating platform. Serana appears on my right, and Svar on my left.  
The platform we are on gives us a good view of the area for miles. Or whatever a mile is equivalent to in a hell dimension.   
Leading down away from us, is a floating staircase that leads to a sand colored dirt path. Crumbling black stone structures hug the trail, and dot the landscape as far as we can see. The sky is a deep purple that is constantly interrupted by large black clouds. A large stone wall higher than the portal blocks my view of anything to my right.  
Damn that thing is big.  
I reach out with my soul sense, and immediately deactivate it. I was overwhelmed by the sensory overload the second I tried to feel anything. The very air seems to be coated in souls. It’s as if the air wants to devour me, and the higher up I sense, the more hungry the air feels.  
Note to self stay on the ground if at all possible.  
“This place is worse than I was expecting.” Svar says as she looks around.  
“Then we can be confident we have arrived.” Serana says. She brings her wrist up, and slashes across it with a long claw. She pours magic into the dripping wound, and begins scanning the area. Her gaze focuses on a point beyond the large wall, and she points it out to us. “My mother is that way.”  
Svar looks at the large wall, and turns to us. “So we’re flying?”  
“No.” Serana and I say at the same time.  
Serana regards me with a raised eyebrow. “You feel it as well then? You have progressed further than I had thought.”  
Svar scrunches her eyebrows. “Feel what? Why can’t we fly?”  
“The air.” I say. “It’s like it’s alive. Like it’s being held together by thousands of hungry souls, and the higher up I reach, the more deadly it feels.”  
Svar swallows, and nods. “Stay on the ground. Got it.”  
The three of us start down the stairs, and keep our eyes peeled on our surroundings. We reach the bottom, and begin walking in the direction Serana indicated.  
Ok, so far so good. I’d rather not draw any attention, so if everything here is fine with leaving us alone, I’m fine with leaving them alone.  
“On our right!” Serana yells, and begins firing ice spikes into the dirt.  
I turn in the indicated direction and draw Yamato. I focus my soul sense on that area only, and feel hundreds of things moving up out of the ground.  
Skeletal hands reach up from the ground in dozens of places, ghostly specters float through the walls of the surrounding structures, and a being made of sand simply comes into being.  
“RONAAZ!” Svar shouts. Her bow and arrows settle around her, but they are faint. When before they shone a bright viridian green, they are now barely visible.  
Svar grits her teeth and starts firing into the oncoming hoard.  
“Get behind me!” I yell, and run forward. I draw Yamato and begin slashing at anything that moves. Skeletons collapse, only to be replaced by others, strange spirits dissipate, only to reconstitute themselves, and the sand thing just picks up more sand to replace what I cut away.  
Not sure what I’m dealing with, I observe it.

Enslaved Sand Elemental  
Level- 237  
Tier- Immortal  
HP- 29427  
Thought about you- You smell delicious. It wants to devour you before anything else can.

I really hate that damn flaw.  
I put Yamato back in my inventory, and begin firing bolt after bolt of lightning into the sand.  
It doesn’t seem to do anything. The elemental just keeps moving forward.  
“Serana!” I call. “Ice this guy! I’ll deal with the weaker undead.”  
I don’t bother looking to see if Serana will do as I say, I trust her. I pull Yamato back out, and enter my lightning form. I ready the sword, and begin speeding in and out of the slowly growing army of undead.  
I slash at anything that moves. Doing everything I can to fight these things off.  
Periodically, a faint green arrow would bury itself in a ghost or skeleton, but I’m too focused on dismantling everything to care too much.  
“Dusk!” I hear Svar shout.  
I run out of the pack and look towards her.  
Svar is panting heavily. The sand around her has been turned into hardened stone spikes that slow the advance of the skeletons, but do nothing to stop the wraiths. Her bow has disappeared, and she’s drawn Ascalon.  
Shit.  
I teleport behind her to cut down a wraith who had gotten too close.  
“Stop using magic!” I say as I cut down another wraith. “Just use physical attacks.”  
The two of us keep fighting the undead back, but without her magic, Svar can’t hurt the ghosts.  
She needs a way to fight back.  
“Trade me!” I say to her as I run up. I hold Yamato out to her, and hold my hand out for Ascalon.  
Seeing my intent, she tosses Ascalon to me and takes Yamato.  
She pivots and cuts through a specter that was coming up from behind her. She grins through her exhaustion. “Always wanted to use this thing.” She says excitedly.  
I coat Ascalon in electricity, and the two of us begin to cut through ghosts and skeletons alike.  
The two of us fight back to back. Forcing everything back, but they’re slowly overwhelming our position even with Svar now being equipped with Yamato.  
I might need to teleport us out of here.  
“Serana!” I yell, but receive no answer.  
What the hell?   
“Serana!” I yell again as I cut through a wraith.  
A portal opens directly behind Svar, and Serana steps through.  
“To me!” She yells.  
Svar falls backwards through the portal, and I godspeed after her. The moment we’re through, Serana closes it behind us.  
I let out a sigh of relief as I relaxed.  
That sucked.  
I look around, and see a small room made of black stone.  
We’re in a building of some kind.  
Svar drops Yamato and leans heavily against a wall.  
Serana and I are beside her quickly.  
“Are you alright?” Serana asks.  
Svar waves us off. “I’ll be alright. I’m just tired, and hungry. You have any food, Dusk?”  
I nod and pull some dried venison from my inventory. “Here.”  
She gives me a grateful nod, and starts devouring her meal.  
“What happened?” Serana asks me while Svar eats.  
“Exhaustion.” I answer. “She just got her soul ripped out, and started fighting hundreds of undead right off the bat. She needs a breath.”  
Serana nods. “Then we will wait here for a time. We are currently in a room within the wall you no doubt saw upon exiting the portal. We should be safe for the time being.”  
I nod and walk back over to Svar.  
She’s just finishing up her snack when I walk up.  
“Are you feeling alright?” I ask.  
She nods jerkily. “I’m good. I just need…”  
“I believe you and I had an agreement, Svarline.” Serana calmly walks up next to us, and stares at Svar. “We cannot help you if you do not tell us what is wrong with you, so tell us what is wrong with you.” Serana says with iron in her voice.  
Svar takes in a deep breath, then lets it out. “I can’t use the thu’um from now on.” She says wearily. “The bow took too much out of me, and made it so I was too weak to use my other magic. Physical stuff is the easiest, so I’ll probably stick to Ascalon while we’re here.”  
That’s not going to work with all the ghosts about.  
I shake my head at her. “No. Use Yamato. Ascalon is a powerful weapon, but only really shines when used to fight dragons. It can’t cut through ghosts. Yamato can, and there are obviously ghosts here who want us dead. You take Yamato. I’ll use Ascalon and my magic.” I pick Yamato up off the ground and hold it out to her.  
Svar looks like she wants to argue, but she accepts the blade. “Thank you.” She says.  
I turn to Serana. “Where do we go from here.”  
She closes her eyes for a moment, then points through one of the walls. “My mother is in that direction, but I do not have a way to locate the Keepers. If possible, I would like to eliminate them before we move to my mother’s position. The faster we deal with them, the less prepared they are for our assault.”  
I nod. “Makes sense. They shouldn’t be too hard to find. Just look up into the sky, and look for a large circular gathering of stone with a brighter purple hue. They should be pretty hard to miss.” I turn back to Svar. “Are you ready to move?”  
She takes one more deep breath, and nods. “I’m ready.”  
Serana hums as she places a hand on her chin. “Before we continue, I would recommend each of us activates our own invisibility. I do not know if it will do overmuch, but if it allows us to avoid another confrontation such as the one we just left, it will be well worth it.” Once she finishes her statement, her form vanishes.  
I look over my shoulder at Svar. “After you my dear. Careful with the ranged slices.” I activate Embrace of Shadows, and my form also vanishes.  
The last thing I see of Svar before she too becomes invisible is an eager grin on her face. A few moments later, and the wall Serana indicated has a massive hole in it.  
I hear Svar chuckling. “I might not give this back Dusk.”  
“You’d better.” I say as I silently move forward. “I love that sword.”  
“You bring up a good point, but you love me more than the sword, so you’d let me keep it.” Svar says back as she moves through the newly created hole in the wall.  
Serana hums as she walks after Svar. “Svarline, while I appreciate your sharp wit, now is not the time.”  
I hear Svar stop moving, and stop myself.  
“Did she just…?” Svar asks.  
“Yes.” I say back. “Yes she did.”  
“Serana, if I could see you I’d kiss you.” Svar says seriously.  
“I’m as big a fan of kissing as the next guy, but we should really get moving. Save it for when we get out of the hell dimension.” I say as I move through the wall.  
“Quite right.” Serana says from in front of me. “As Svarline cannot enhance her senses at present, I will leave a trail behind me as I walk. I have found something similar to what you described, Dusk. I will lead us there first.”  
We fall silent, and we begin walking with Svar following the trail Serana leaves behind her.  
I don’t need it because I can hear her movements, but it’s still helpful.   
I’ve also just learned something about my new silent movement perk. The sounds I make are quiet, but bushes I brush past still make noise. I’ll need to work on my sneaking when I get a chance.  
The three of us continue on quietly across the tan colored ground. Serana sometimes walks us in wide circles to avoid groups of undead, but other than that we aren’t having any issues. I’m still waiting for my flaw to screw us over again, but for now it’s smooth sailing.  
“Dusk.” Serana says quietly. “Is this a probable location of one of these ‘Keepers’?”  
I look at the large castle, with the swirling purple sky above it.   
“It’s a safe bet.” I say under my breath knowing she can still hear me. “How do you want to play this?”  
She hums quietly. “I am unable to differentiate between souls in this place, and there is no blood within that castle.”  
I sigh softly. “Old fashioned way it is. Svar?” I turn to face her.  
I hear her shuffle a little. “Is one of the Keepers here?” She asks.  
“It’s likely. We’re going to need a way in.” I respond.  
“I’ll make one.” I can hear the smile in her voice. She begins moving forward, and Serana and I follow after her.  
We slowly creep up to the wall of the castle, and I hear Svar start cutting with Yamato. A section of the wall falls outward, and Serana and I catch it before it can make too much noise. We lower it down, and the three of us move inside.  
We enter onto the ground level of a staircase that leads both up and down.  
“Which way?” Svar whispers.  
“Up.” I say quietly. “No evil overlord ever lives in the basement of their massive castle.”  
I hear Svar shuffle to look at me, and can guess she’s raising an eyebrow at me. “That’s your reasoning?”  
I smile at her invisible form. “Yep. Now follow me, so I can prove myself right.”  
I hear Serana chuckle as the two of them start to follow me up the stairs.  
Not wanting to overload my senses, I use my electromancy instead of my soul magic to look around.   
The first floor we come to is empty with the exception of a few skeletons walking around, so I keep leading us upwards until we reach the top floor.  
I reach out with my electromancy, and feel a large figure sitting on a large throne.  
Guess I was right Svar.  
I smirk, and look over to where she’s standing. “There’s a large humanoid sitting on a throne around 100 feet in front of us.” I whisper. “Guess he wasn’t in the basement after all huh?”  
I hear her sigh softly. “I wasn’t saying you were wrong. It’s just never occurred to me how predictable evil overlords are with their fortresses.”  
“It does not appear that we have been detected.” Serana whispers, interrupting our discussion. “I believe it best we strike from the shadows with Yamato. It has already proven effective against dragonbone, so unless Dusk was incorrect about their chosen armor, we can deal with him easily.”  
“Feels a little anticlimactic doesn’t it?” Svar whispers back. “These guys are supposed to be tough right? I was kind of looking forward to fighting them.”  
“Apologies Svarline, but I would prefer to deal with them as quickly as possible, with as little risk to us as possible.” Serana quietly says back to Svarline. “You are not at your strongest, and I would like to free my mother quickly. We will find something else to challenge you once you are restored.”   
“Alright.” Svar says, and I hear her move. “Serana’s the most quiet out of us, so she should probably take Yamato.”  
Serana hums softly. “Very well, I will return it once the Keeper has fallen, or if I am discovered.”  
Svar passes the blade over, and we begin moving forward again.  
I hang slightly back from the two of them, but stay close enough to support them.  
I really don’t want my everything aggro flaw to screw up the sneak attack.  
I use my electromancy to keep track of Svar and Serana as they move down the hall.   
Before too long, we’ve come to a large door leading to what I assume to be the Keeper’s throne room.  
I feel around with my magic, but I don’t feel any bodies other than ours. Ours and the large suit of armor sitting on the throne.  
Suit of armor? Why the hell is it just floating?  
I focus closer on the area, and feel slight movements from within the armor.  
Huh, guess the Keeper’s are some kind of half-specter bullshit.  
I move forward, and gently rest a hand on Serana’s shoulder.  
She doesn’t react at all, simply waiting.  
I lean in close to her ear, and silent as I am able say, “It’s part specter. Be ready in case Yamato fails for whatever reason.”  
She nods, and I step back.  
I feel Serana creep forward very slowly with my magic. She makes no sound that I’m able to detect. Even with my enhanced senses. Without my electromancy, I wouldn’t know where she was.  
I move further into the room so as to be in a better position to support her, and Observe the Keeper.

Keeper Faulos  
Guardian of the Soul Cairn  
Level- 350  
Tier- Immortal  
HP- 75,000  
Thoughts about you- It is unaware of your presence.

Damn he’s beefy. I really hope this sneak attack works, because I don’t want to fight this guy fairly.  
I focus my magic back on Serana so that I know when she makes her move.  
She stops about half of the way to the throne, and brings the sword above her head. She slashes down, and then breaks into a flurry of ranged blows. All of which are directed at the Keeper.  
The first slice cuts the armour in half, and bisects the chair underneath the armor. A very high pitched screech follows the first strike as the armor begins to move, but Serana’s follow up slashes tear the armor to shreds.  
I watch as a thick black smoky form rises from the destroyed armor, and tries to float away from Serana. Before it can, I move forward and unleash my lightning upon it’s struggling form.  
The thing shrieks again, but it is forcibly quieted when Serana steps forward and channels soul magic into the thing.  
The smoke disperses, and a great *BOOM* echoes across the sky.  
“I think that means it’s dead.” Svar says, now visible, as she walks up to the shadowy pool on the ground.  
I drop Embrace of Shadows and nod at her. “One down, two to go.”  
I walk up to the diced armor and pool of black goop, and just start inventorying everything. I take the goop, the shards of dragonbone, a nice dragonbone shield, and the very large dragonbone longsword still sheathed by the throne.  
I have no idea if most of this will be useful, but I’m taking it anyway.  
A shriek emanating from the way we just came draws my attention.  
The Keeper made a lot of noise while we were killing it, and then the sky practically blew up. Of course our cover’s blown.  
“It’s time for us to leave.” The now visible, Serana says. She holds out her hand, and creates a portal.  
The three of us quickly move through it just as a clattering group of skeletons enters the room, and Serana closes the portal behind us.  
I look around, and realize we’re in the same room from before. It still has the hole in the wall and everything.  
I turn to Serana and Svar. “I don’t think the sneak attack strategy will work twice.”  
Svar nods. “The sky kind of made a lot of noise when that guy died. It’s a safe bet that the other two won’t just be sitting on their asses.”  
Serana nods. “Our gambit will not work again. We’ll likely meet severe resistance in our next two battles.” She walks over to Svar, and gives Yamato back to her.   
Svar nods in thanks, and heads to the hole from earlier. She stops at the exit, and looks over her shoulder. “Are we going?”  
I nod. “Let’s go kill these half-spectral assholes.”  
Svar grins. “That's wraith-ist.” She laughs at her own joke, and turns herself invisible as she walks through the hole.  
Never change Svar.   
I activate Embrace of Shadows once more, and follow her out.  
“I will lead once more.” Serana says from my side as she too becomes invisible. “I will again leave a trail in my wake, but I will move faster. We cannot afford to tarry if the denizens of this place decide to hunt us.”  
“We’ll follow your lead.” I say.  
Without exchanging any more words, the three of us start moving.  
We move towards the another violet hole in the sky at an increased pace, and frequently swerve to avoid large groups of undead.  
Somehow, we make it to our destination without encountering any resistance, but we encounter a slight problem.  
“It’s a floating castle.” Svar sans her invisibility says. “I want a floating castle.”  
“Then you will have to resign yourself to living here.” Serana says as she drops her own invisibility. She looks up at the castle as she continues. “The amount of energy required to keep that structure aloft can only be supplied by an extremely large powersource. In order to make the castle ‘float’ the Keeper likely uses hundreds of souls each week. Something we will not be able to replicate when we return.”  
Svar sighs. “Then I guess we’ll just have to kill the Keeper for getting my hopes up.” She takes a deep breath, and her cape slowly splits itself apart to form her wings.   
She pants slightly once her spell is complete, but she quickly composes herself.  
I deactivated Embrace of Shadows and studied her for a moment.   
“Are you alright?” I ask seriously.  
She nods. “I’m good. Just a little tired, but I’ll be fine. Let’s kill this guy.” She spreads her wings, and takes to the sky.  
Serana and I share a look of concern, before we bring out our own wings in order to fly after Svar.  
The floating fortress isn’t all that high up, so it doesn’t take the three of us very long to reach it. We land at the very top of the structure, and Svar uses Yamato to cut through the roof.  
A large circular section of stone falls away, and the three of us move in through the gap. Right into a freaking throne room.  
A large figure armored in dragon bone takes a bow off his back, and takes aim at us.  
“Move!” I yell. I grab Svar and Serana’s shoulders and teleport us to the corner of the room.  
Svar brings Yamato up and charges the Keeper while Serana raises ice pillars from the ground to provide the three of us cover from the Keeper’s arrows. I cast a healing ward, as well as a gifted ward, onto both Serana and Svar, and enter my lightning form. Then, I Observe the Keeper.

Keeper Haxius  
Guardian of the Soul Cairn  
Level- 350  
Tier- Immortal  
HP- 75,000  
Thoughts about you- You killed a Keeper. You must die.

Huh, he’s got the exact same level and hit points as the last guy. I’ll think that over later.  
The Keeper keeps firing arrows towards us at a pace that would make Robin Hood jealous. Most of them are intercepted by Serana’s ice pillars, but some of them find a clear line and bounce off the wards I put over Svar and Serana.  
Svar keeps charging. Sending ranged slashes at the Keeper all the while. Pieces of the Keeper’s armor fall away, but other than that the Keeper seems to be doing alright.  
Taking advantage of Svar distracting the thing, I activate Godspeed and speed around behind the Keeper with a chidori in each hand. I jump up and dig my hands into the Keeper’s back. Forcing my lightning magic throughout its entire form.  
The Keeper’s body locks up as my lightning courses through it. Svar and Serana use the presented opportunity to cut off it’s legs and stab icicles into its chest.  
I change my lightning magic to soul magic, and begin tearing apart the specter-like being’s soul. I’m not as proficient as Serana, so it takes me around five seconds to completely destroy the thing when it took her only a moment.   
The result is the same though. The specter lets loose a high pitched screech, and an even louder *BOOM* shakes the sky.   
It could just be that we’re higher in the air this time, but that boom felt a lot stronger. Or maybe each death makes things even more unstable?  
I’m pulled from my thoughts when my sensitive ears pick up the sounds of movement outside the room.  
“We need to go.” I say. I quickly inventory everything. I take the goop, more armor shards, the dragonbone bow, and a large quiver of dragonbone arrows.  
The sound of approaching undead grows closer. Serana opens a portal, and the three of us move through without a word.  
Instead of emerging back into the room inside the wall, this time we emerge out in the open.  
I turn to Serana with a raised eyebrow. “Are you trying to avoid them tracking us?”  
She nods. “While it is unlikely they can track our teleports, I’d prefer to be safe.”  
“Good.” Svar says. “I don’t want any of those assholes to surprise us.”  
I look up and around us in search of the third and final Keeper. I find it, and indicate it to Serana. The three of us activate our invisibility once more and get moving.  
I’m honestly kind of surprised things have gone as well as they have. The Keepers are really high level, but if you hamper their movements with Yamato they get a lot easier to take out. We’ve been here for just under four hours now, and we’ve almost made our way through the Keepers. After this, we just have to grab Valerica and leave.  
Serana leads us towards the final Keeper. Once more giving every grouping of undead a very wide berth to ensure they don’t detect us.  
With Serana leading the way, we once more manage to avoid anything that might have interrupted our journey to the last position.  
This one isn’t in the sky, it isn’t even a major fortification really. There’s just a very large suit of armor sitting on a throne in between two lit braziers. A large battleaxe leans up against the side of the throne, and the hulking armor seems as if it’s waiting for something.

Keeper Fezius  
Guardian of the Soul Cairn  
Level- 350  
Tier- Immortal  
HP- 75,000  
Thoughts about you- It is waiting for you so it can kill you.

At least he’s keeping things simple I guess.  
“I really don’t feel like fighting this guy fairly.” I say quietly. “Serana, get ready to cast a massive ice spell directly below you. Svar, cut his legs off when he tries to dodge. Let me know when you’re ready.”  
I feel Svar ready Yamato.  
“Ready.” She says.  
From my left, I feel Serana begin to gather a massive amount of magic. She channels her magic for nearly 15 seconds.  
“Ready.” She says terse.  
I place a hand on Serana’s shoulder, and say, “Go.”   
I teleport Serana and I into the sky fifteen feet above the Keeper and create a shield beneath Serana and I, so that we can stand in the air without falling.  
Serana feels the teleportation, and unleashes her spell down toward the Keeper.  
The spectral warrior hears the blizzard coming, and tries to dodge out of the way, but Svar cuts off his legs with a ranged slash from Yamato.  
Serana and I begin bombarding the Keeper with elemental magic from above, while Svar keeps his movement restricted.  
The Keeper doesn’t last long.  
The black mist slowly evaporates away from the armor, but Serana and I reach out with our soul magic to tear the thing apart.  
The thing lets out a high pitched screech, and an even louder *BOOM* accompanies the sound.  
I let out a sigh as I lower the platform Serana and I are on down to the Keeper’s body.  
Svar walks forward and meets us there.  
“Do these guys have no originality?” I ask Serana and Svar when we’re all back together. “They all died in the exact same way. Loud screech, followed by a loud boom. You’d think there would be something unique, but no. It’s all exactly the same.”  
I inventory all of the Keeper’s stuff, then turn to find Svar and Serana looking at me with grins.  
“What?” I ask.  
Svar laughs. “You’re complaining about how they responded to you killing them. It’s just funny.”  
I guess it is kinda funny, but I was just kind of underwhelmed by the damn things. They all died like the wicked witch of the west. I was expecting something like how the Lost Boys died. There was a lot more variability in those deaths.  
Am I really thinking about this right now?  
I shake my head, and turn to Serana. “Do you have your mom’s location? The sooner we get her out of this place, the sooner we can get Svar back to her soul.”  
Wow that was a weird sentence.  
Serana nods, then points. “She is nearly a mile in that direction. It should not take us very long to reach her.”  
Svar nods. “Good. We’ll follow your lead.”  
The three of us become invisible once more, and start on our way.  
Once more, we weave in and out of various wandering undead, and sneak our way towards Valerica.  
It doesn’t take long for an enormous castle to come into view. It’s easily three times the size of the biggest Keeper’s fortress.  
“She’s there.” Serana says in a daze. “We’ve almost made it.”  
She picks up her pace significantly, but still moves slow enough to allow Svar to keep up.  
The three of us reach the castle, and drop our invisibility.  
“Svarline.” Serana says distractedly. “Could you please open this door?”  
Svar nods, and cuts the lock with Yamato.  
Serana pushes the door open and rushes inside, her eyes fixated on a single spot.  
I need to figure out that blood magic trick she’s using. It seems pretty damn useful.  
Serana moves forward, and yells. “Mother!”  
Sixth sense tells me I’m about to die, and I immediately grab Svar and teleport the fuck away.  
I spin around, and see a tall pale figure with bat-like wings sprouting from it’s back. The creature turns it’s manic red eyes back to me, and bares its fangs in a hiss.

Valerica  
Daughter of Coldharbour  
Level- ???  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thoughts about you- ???

Oh fuck. Vampire lord Valerica is trying to fucking kill me.  
Valerica takes a small step towards me, but before she can get too far another vampire lord barrels into her.  
Serana slams Valerica into a wall, and the two start trading blows.  
“Dusk!” Serana growls in between strikes. “She needs blood!”  
Not wanting to see what happens if Valerica gets away from Serana, I quickly pull twenty dead bodies from my inventory, and slit all their throats with my claws. I then throw the bodies towards the fighting vampire lords.  
Valerica’s head snaps towards the corpses, and she falls upon the nearest one. Sinking her fangs into its neck and drinking deeply.  
She drains one corpse, then two, then five, then ten. Pretty soon, every single body I brought out has been completely drained.  
I regard Valerica cautiously.  
If she freaks out again, I’m taking Svar and teleporting away. I’ll come back to help Serana once the soulless dragonborn is safe.  
Serana hesitantly approaches the vampire lord. “Mother?” She says softly.  
The vampire lord slowly changes shape. Long black hair grows from her head, and her bone white skin reagins a slight amount of color. Her eyes become less hungry, and grow more confused. She turns to look at Serana with blood still falling from her chin.  
“Serana?” The woman croaks.  
“It’s me mother.” Serana says with tears in her eyes. “It’s me.” Her voice cracks on the last word.  
Almost faster than I can track, the woman closes the distance to Serana and throws her arms around her. “Daughter.” She says softly.   
Svar nudges me, then motions towards the door. “We should give them a minute.”   
I nod, and the two of us walk from the castle.  
Looks like we’ve found Valerica.

(Interlude: Legate Rikke)

  
I look up from the battle map on the table in front of me when a messenger enters the room.  
“Report.” I say.  
He salutes, and begins his report. “The undead have made it past our first defensive perimeter. The mages from the College ordered everyone back to our secondary defensive position. They said to tell you that the vampire’s necromancers are incredibly strong, but they’re not sure how many there are. They’re making preparations to deal with them, but they can’t cover our ground troops at the same time.”  
I curse under my breath.  
Without our mage support we’re all but defenseless against the undead. We can kill them sure, but they’ll just be raised again along with any men we lost.  
I grit my teeth as I turn back to the messenger. “Pull everyone back into the city. Without the mages, our plan doesn’t work. Get every archer we have up on the battlements to cover our troops retreat, and get the ballistas and trebuchets ready for use. The undead don’t have siege engines, so all we have to worry about is magic which the College already prepared us for. Get word to Mirabelle to activate the barrier, then hurry her ass up with whatever countermeasure they’re making for the necromancers.”  
The messenger salutes once more, then runs from the room.  
I rub my forehead as soon as the runner leaves.  
This isn’t going well.  
We managed to hold them effectively in the woods, but as soon as they made it into the marsh our defense crumbled. Vampires are much more mobile through marshland than heavily armored soldiers, even with all the powdered silver we spread through the water.  
As if Potema attacking Solitude wasn’t bad enough, we’re now getting reports of fighting in Whiterun, and a burned down Falkreath.   
I don’t know how we’re going to beat this.  
I shake my head to clear it.   
I can’t help Whiterun without securing repelling Potema’s forces, and Falkreath is already lost. I need to focus on Solitude.  
I look back down at the map, and rearrange a few things.  
Without our forward defensive positions our cavalry is all but useless now. We’ll need to rely on our ranged options, and hope the vampires are unable to force a melee.  
Our walls should be able to stop them. Not even a vampire can jump that high, and every vamp we’ve faced thus far has been young. They were likely turned right after Morthal fell.  
I clench my fist at the thought.  
How many innocents have been killed in all of this madness? How many of Skyrim’s sons now lie dead? How many of her daughters? How many of her children?  
I push away from the table, and pick up my helmet as I walk to the door.  
This city will not fall. I will not allow it.

(Interlude: Sam Guevenne)

  
My the trees here truly are lovely. I wonder if I would be able to make a suitable vacation home here?  
“Papa!” My little girl cries. “Uncle Sheo’s chewing on the bark again!”  
“I don’t see why he wouldn’t.” The jester sing-songs. “It is quite tasty after all.”  
I chuckle as I turn to my companions. “Have you found the clue they left yet Cicero?”  
The jester nods his head up and down. The bells on his hat tinkled with the action.  
“Yes I did. I did indeed! Look!” He holds up a mushroom, and begins to dance a jig with the fungus still in hand.  
I scratch my chin as I observe the offered fungus.  
I suppose this could be the lettuce mentioned in the coded message, but it could also be the whetstone.  
Hmm, these assassins truly know how to cover their tracks.  
“What are your thoughts on this Raven?” I ask as I turn to the box.  
The box does nothing.  
Hmm, she’s stumped as well.  
“Ha!” My friend laughs as he appears in front of me. “Good one Sammy! I never wood have thought you were punny!”  
I tilt my head at him. “Well you know how it goes. After a few hundred years of the same old jokes, I felt the need to branch out.”  
My friend smiles as he accepts my challenge. “Good for you Sammy! Way to spruce up your repertoire!”  
I smile back as our game begins in earnest. “You know me Sheo. I truly do enjoy acorn-y joke from time to time.”  
Sheo wipes a tear from his eye. “I’m so proud of you Sammy! You’ve finally moved away from your roots.”  
I scoff. “Don’t get so sappy on me Sheo. You’ll make me cry too.”  
“Papa!” My little one groans. “Can you please stop with the tree puns?” She begs desperately.  
Sheo and I share a look, then we shrub.  
Agatha groans even louder, and buries her head in her hands. She turns to the box pleadingly. “Mom! Tell them to stop!”  
The box does nothing.  
My friend smiles victoriously. “You see Agy! Even ‘ol Raver’s likes our jokes.”  
My little girl looks around the group as if we’ve all turned against her.  
She’s so cute.  
“In the name of the Silvenar, I bid you halt!”  
I suppress a sigh as I turn to the small group of elves.  
“What can we do for you?” I ask in elvish.  
“You are trespassing on these lands carrying unknown goods.” He gestures to the box. “You will come with us for questioning, and submit your crate to our custody.”  
The jester freezes mid jig, and slowly turns to face the elf. He frowns at the elf. “You can’t have mother. We’re finding the rest of the family, so mother is indisposed right now.”  
The elf narrows his eyes, and draws his sword. “Take them!” He orders.  
His company draw their weapons, and move forward to secure us.  
I let out a long sigh.  
I suppose I don’t want a vacation home here after all. It would be far too much work.  
The first of the elves reaches out to the jester, and gets his hand cut off for his trouble.  
The elf falls back with a loud scream as he holds his new stump.  
The jester tilts his head at the rest of the elves as he brandishes his daggers. “You were rude to mother, so I’m going to kill you now.”  
My little girl’s eyes light up, and she turns to me. “Can I help papa? Please please please please please!” She hops up and down as she grips my robe in excitement.  
Well, she has been working hard.  
I turn to my friend. “What do you think Sheo?”  
He grips his chin and thinks while the jester continues to cut down the elves.  
My friend gives a sharp nod. “I think she’s ready, but don’t forget to ask Raver’s.”  
I nod, and turn to the box. “Do you have any objections?”  
The box does nothing.  
Well, if she’s alright with it too…   
I turn to my little Agatha, and smile. “Sure darling.”  
“Yay!” She throws her hands up and spins around happily.  
“Little Agatha is going to play?” The jester asks excitedly. “The rest are yours little sister!” The jester slits the throat of the elf he was holding, and sheaths his daggers.  
My little Agatha skips towards the remaining four elves, and smiles. “I’ve been practicing, so don’t hold back!” She tells them excitedly.  
The captain turns to his men. “Retreat! Bring news to Grahtwood of these trespassers. I will buy you time.”  
The other three elves nod, and begin to run.  
Agatha frowns. “That’s not nice. This is my first chance to impress papa, and you’re running away.” She holds out a hand, and the forest comes to life.  
The great trees groan as they bend down. Their branches shoot forth, and entangle the fleeing elves before crushing them.  
My little Agatha turns back to the captain with a frown on her face. “I wanted to fight, but you didn’t fight. You’re rude.” She points to the ground, and a thick green smoke pours from the plants at the captain’s feet.  
The captain begins coughing up a storm. He tries to run, but he soon passes out from the smoke.  
I turn to my right at the sound of clapping.  
“Well done little sister! You’ve gotten much better!” The jester praises.  
Agatha’s eyes light up. “Have I really?”  
The jester bobs his head up and down. The bells on his hat tinkle once more.  
“Yes! Lets dance to celebrate!”  
Agatha giggles, and runs up to the jester.  
They take each other’s hands, and begin to dance around the bloodstained grass.  
My friend appears at my side, and holds out a lute to me. “Music!” He screams, and pulls a flute out.   
I smile, and the two of us begin to play.  
Ah this is nice. My friend and I are playing beautiful music while my little girl dances in the shade of vibrant graht-oaks.  
How could this possibly be any better?


	18. 18

(Svarline)

I take a deep breath as Dusk and I exit the stone castle.  
Dusk looks over at me and scrunches his eyebrows. “Are you alright?” He asks.  
I nod, and wave him off. “I’m just a little tired, but I’ll be fine. Now that we found Valerica we should leave here pretty soon, so I can deal with it until we get back.”  
Dusk studies me, unconvinced. After a moment, he nods slowly. “Ok, but tell me if you’re having any problems. The portal’s just a teleport or two away.”  
I nod. “I will.” I walk over to a stone wall and take a seat. I pat the ground beside me, and look up at Dusk. “Take a seat. We’ve got some time to rest while those two catch up.”  
He looks around our surroundings, and shakes his head. “You rest. We don’t know what could jump out at us in this place. I’ll keep an eye out while you catch your breath.”  
He holds his hand out to me, and a rabbit leg appears in it.   
One of these days I’m going to figure out how he does that.  
I take the leg with a grateful nod, and lean back against the wall.  
He takes a few steps away from me, and begins watching for any attackers.  
I close my eyes as I take the chance to breathe a little.  
I had no idea what I was signing on for. This whole walking around without a soul thing sucks.  
It’s not so bad that I can’t function, but it’s just a constant feeling that there’s something important missing.  
Makes sense really. Your soul is kind of important.  
I let out a sigh as I open my eyes, and begin to chew on the rabbit meat.  
I can deal with this. Besides, Dusk’s right. If it gets too unbearable, he can just teleport me back.  
Serana’s back with her mother, so it was worth it. They’ll talk for a while, and then we’ll go.  
There shouldn’t be anything else that keeps us here.  
My mind drifts back to Serana and her mother.  
I wonder how it’s going in there?

  
(Serana)

  
I hold my mother tight as I softly weep.  
This moment is as if from a dream. I know what Dusk, Svarline, and I have been working towards these past months, but I do not believe the magnitude of what we were attempting had set in until this moment.  
I’ve finally found my mother.  
She pulls away slowly, and places a hand on my cheek. She stares at me as if she expects me to fade away without a moment’s notice.  
“I had resigned myself to never seeing you again.” She says quietly. “I thought I’d destroyed the portal.”  
I smile at her, and lean into her touch. “We made a new one.” I reply. “We’ve been working almost the entire time I’ve been awake.”  
She studies me a moment longer, before she leans forward and places a gentle kiss on my forehead.  
“I am glad you are well daughter. I am glad I was able to see you once more, but you must leave. You must leave, and you must leave without me.” She says sadly.  
I blink through my tears and look up at her in confusion.  
“What do you mean?” I ask. “Mother, we have a way out. This place is no longer your prison.”  
She shakes her head. “It was never a prison.” She takes a step away from me, and holds my gaze. “Why do you believe I exiled myself here, when I only sealed you inside a tomb?”  
I look at her with furrowed brows, and a creased forehead. “I don’t understand mother. What are you saying?”  
“I cannot leave this place Serana. If I do, you will be in danger.” She says.  
I shake my head. “Danger? Mother, you are not making sense.”  
“The prophecy.” She says. “I cannot allow Harkon to obtain the Elder Scroll I possess. The only place safe from that madman is here, so here I must say.”  
I shake my head at her. “Mother the prophecy doesn’t matter anymore. Harkon doesn’t know what I know, nor does he possess what I possess. We are in no danger from him.”  
Mother sighs softly. “Serana, you don’t understand. The prophecy…. if Harkon learns about the relationship between a Daughter of Coldharbour and….”  
“Auriel’s Bow?” I finish for her, making her eyes widen. “I know the prophecy already mother, so you can trust me when I say Harkon will not succeed. He is effectively neutralized.”  
Mother’s eyes narrow. “How did you learn of the full prophecy?” She advances slightly. “I told no one of it’s full scope, so how do you know Serana?”  
I meet her gaze unflinching. “My companions. Both of whom helped me to reach this place I might add. Dusk is a seer. He knows many things, and he told me everything he knew of the prophecy. He has even trusted me with the bow’s location.”  
Mother growls. “Are you blind?!” She yells. “A seer just so happens to know not only the location of Auriel’s Bow, but details of a prophecy recorded in Elder Scrolls, and he has made you indebted to him! How can you not see that he is using you?”  
I narrow my eyes at her. “Mother,” I say calmly. “Dusk is many things, but a liar is not one of them. He is not using me, nor will he ever.”  
She seems taken aback by my statement. Her eyes narrow, and she leans towards me slowly. She stares deep into my eyes, and her own widen.  
“Serana you deluded fool.” She breathes out. “Tell me you don’t actually care for this man?”  
I stand tall as I respond. “He has been good to me. Him and Svarline both, and I will not allow you to slander them.”  
She practically seethes as she looks to the ceiling. “Oblivion damn it all girl.” She turns back down to look at me. “You bring not one, but two strangers here, and you have allowed yourself to fall for both of them! Are you out of your mind?! Stop thinking with your vagina for ten seconds and think with your brain! What do these two owe you? What is their motivation for accompanying you here? The man is a vampire Serana! What else could they possibly want from you?!”  
I bare my fangs as I glare at her. “Dusk is a vampire because I turned him mother. I turned him after he had nearly died saving my life, and Svarline outright refused to let me turn her. They do not care about the prophecy, and they don’t care about the power they could gain from the Soul Cairn. They are here for me. They accompanied me because I asked them to, and I will not stand by and listen as you defame them.”  
My mother narrows her eyes at me. “It is quite clear that you trust these two, but why should I trust them? Why should I trust them with you?”  
I growl at her. “I am not an item for you to pass to whomever you deem worthy mother. I will live as I choose, and I will belong to whomever I please.”  
She holds my gaze for a long moment.  
She breaks eye contact with a weary sigh. “I cared the same way for your father Serana.” She says tiredly. “I don’t want to see you hurt the same way I was.” She meets my gaze once more. “I do not trust them, and I will be watching them for any moves against us, but I will choose to trust you for now. Do not make me regret that decision.” She says with steel.  
“I will not have to do anything, mother.” I respond with conviction. “Neither Dusk nor Svarline are Harkon. You may not like them, but you will respect them.”  
Silence falls between us as we hold each other's gaze.  
Mother breaks eye contact first. She slowly walks over to me, and wraps her arms back around me. “I will not apologize for looking after your well being Serana,” She says softly. “but I will trust you.”  
I wrap my arms around her in turn, and the tears return. “I missed you mother.” I say softly.  
She begins running her hand through my hair. “I missed you as well daughter.”  
Neither of us moves for a long time.

(Dusk)

  
Almost an hour has passed when Serana and Valerica emerge from the castle.  
Valerica is no longer covered in blood. Instead, she now wears a black cloak very similar to that of her daughter.   
As the two get closer, Valerica observes us from her place beside Serana.  
Svar stands up from her place against the wall, and walks over to me.  
“Mother.” Serana says. “This is Dusk and Svarline. Dusk, Svarline, this is my mother.”  
Svar walks forward with her hand out. “It’s good to meet you.” She says.  
Valerica studies her for a moment, before accepting Svar’s handshake. “My daughter speaks highly of you. I hope you live up to her praise.” She says coldly.  
Svar narrows her eyes slightly, but doesn’t say anything. She lets go of the vampiress’s hand and walks back over to me.  
I step forward and extend my own hand. “I’m Dusk.” I say. “Good to meet you.”  
She doesn’t take my hand. Choosing instead to stare at me. Her eyes narrow, and she leans forward suspiciously.  
What the hell is she doing?  
“How are you doing this?” Valerica asks out of nowhere.  
“Uh… Doing what?” I ask.  
She growls, and bares her fangs at me. “Do not play dumb boy. How are you…”  
“Mother.” Serana says terse from her side.  
Valerica spares her a glance, and relaxes slightly. She turns back to me. “I apologize for my rudeness. Would you please enlighten me as to how you are blocking my telepathy?”  
What? Game was she trying to talk to me?

[Yep, but I blocked it just like you said!]  
[You’re welcome!]

Uh, thanks Game, but for next time, can you let me know when someone is trying to talk to me telepathically?

[Will do!]

In other news Valerica is telepathic. As if I wasn’t already terrified of her.  
I focus back on Valerica, and see her starting to grow impatient.  
“I have incredibly strong mental defences.” I answer her honestly. “No one can take over my mind, or even talk to me without my permission.”  
Valerica hums as she studies me.  
Huh. The humming must run in the family.  
“While your defences are strong, do not believe yourself invincible.” Valerica says. “All it takes is one being to prove your better, and you will die.”  
Cheery isn’t she? I bet she’s a real riot at parties. Then again I’m one to talk. I never really got invited to parties.  
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I say non committedly. I turn from her to look at Serana. “Are we ready to leave then?”  
Before she can answer, Valerica speaks up. “No.”  
All three of us turn to look at her.  
“Mother?” Serana says. “I told you, we do not have to fear Harkon anymore. You are free to leave.”  
Valerica shakes her head, and turns to her daughter. “I may be free, but I will not leave my friend to his fate.”  
“Friend?” Svar asks, confused. “Who else is here with you?”  
A loud roar echoes across the barren sand in response to her question.  
Shit.  
I enter my lightning form, and begin scanning the sky. “Does anyone have a visual on him?” I ask.  
A loud crash sounds from behind me, and I turn to see a massive form resting atop the castle staring down at us.  
A massive dragon stares down at us. It’s entire body is wrong. Where it’s scales should be vibrant, they appear almost rusted. Looking a mix of sickly green, and pale. The dragon has several small holes in its wings, and a faint black mist seems to seep from his body.  
We found Durnehviir.  
Just as I’m about to attack, Valerica speaks up.  
“Serana, Dusk, Svarline, allow me to introduce you to Durnehviir.” She says as she studies my lightning form.  
“It is good to meet you.” The dragon says as he flies down to the ground. “We so rarely receive visitors in this place.”  
What?  
Shouldn’t he be trying to kill us right now?  
Svarline steps forward. “Durnehviir, zu’u los Svarline. Kogaan fah tinvaak voth mu.”  
The dragon regards her curiously. “It has been a very long time since I was addressed in the tongue of the dovah. Thank you for your greeting Svarline, but please converse in the common tongue. It will make speaking easier for our companions.”  
Svar nods. “Very well.”  
I exit lightning form since he doesn’t seem to be attacking us, but I keep my guard up just in case.  
Durnehviir leans towards Svar, and sniffs. “You smell of my kin. Would you perhaps know any dovah?”  
Svar nods. “I’m being trained in the thu’um by Paarthurnax.”  
Valerica raises an eyebrow at the statement, but controls her expression quickly.  
Durnehviir nods down to Svar. “It has been a very long while since I have seen my brother. Would you give him my greetings when you leave this place?”  
Svar nods. “I will.”  
Durnehviir nods. “You have my thanks.”  
Caught off guard by the display, Serana turns to her mother. “I thought he was your jailor.” She says.  
Valerica chuckles. “He is, but as I told you, this place was never a prison for me. It was a haven within which to escape Harkon. Durnehviir and I have spent thousands of years within this realm together. It would be foolish to loathe each other when there is no need for conflict. So long as I remain here, Durnehviir’s pact is satisfied, and I continue to disrupt Harkon’s plans.”  
Serana shakes her head. “But Harkon has been all but defeated. It is possible for....”  
“Forgive me,” Durnehviir interjects. “but I must stop you from speaking further mon do Valerica. I may be friendly to you now, but I am still bound to honor my agreement. Should I hear certain things said, I will have no choice but to kill you.”  
Serana closes her mouth, and looks up at the dragon. “Thank you for the warning.”  
He nods. “You are welcome.”  
So Durnehviir is nice only so long as he isn’t forced to be an asshole? It must really suck to be him.  
“Is there anything we can do to help you?” I ask.  
The dragon turns to me curiously. “Why would you seek to aid me? You have nothing to gain from such an endeavor.”  
I shrug. “Not necessarily. If you’re free, Valerica will be able to take certain actions she would not be allowed otherwise. I might also earn the friendship of a dragon while I’m at it.”  
That and you’re probably my favorite dragon from the game, and seeing you trapped in here is painful.  
The dragon thinks over what I said. “I suppose your words hold merit, but I am afraid what you speak of is impossible. I will never be free so long as Valerica lives. Since I am not able to kill her, and I find her company enjoyable, I will be trapped for all time.”  
“Even if he was freed,” Valerica says. “he would not be able to leave this place. His body and soul have both been shaped by the Soul Cairn during his imprisonment. I was able to protect myself from such alterations with my magic, but he was not.”  
“There’s got to be something we can try.” Svar says. “Could we maybe trade something to the Ideal Masters for him?”  
“There is nothing you possess that the Ideal Masters desire.” Durnehviir says. “Their only interest is the accumulations of souls, and you do not possess nearly enough to interest them.”  
Does the method that worked in the game not work here?  
“Could we maybe bring you to Mundus somehow?” I ask.  
The dragon shakes his head. “There is a way, but my time there would slowly drain my being until I am no more. I thank you for your wish to aid me, but I see no way to free myself from my contract.”  
Valerica turns to Serana. “I will not leave this place while Durnehviir is still enslaved. There are very few beings I still call friend, and he is one of them. You said you have created your own portal, so you may visit me whenever you choose. You may stay for a time, or return now. It is your choice.”  
“Mother I came to free you. I will not leave you when I have only just found you.” Serana says.  
Valerica studies her for a moment, then nods. “Very well. You are welcome within this castle, but you must not stay too long. If you do, the Soul Cairn will alter you as it has Durnehviir, and you will never again be able to leave.” Valerica turns to Svar and I, and looks at us suspiciously. “I do not know your intentions towards my daughter, but she has placed her trust in you.” Her eyes narrow, and the air seems to shrink down around us. “Do not make her regret it.” Her eyes glow a deep red as she stares intently at Svar and I.  
“She won’t.” I say seriously.  
Valerica analyzes us a second longer, then the oppressive atmosphere clears.  
“You are welcome to join us, but I will be watching you.” She turns and enters the castle without another word.  
Serana turns to us. “I apologize for her. She is… slow to trust.”  
I wave her off. “Don’t worry about it. I am too, and I haven’t lived a life nearly as trying as hers, so it’s understandable. Go catch up with your mom. We’ll be along in a bit.”  
Serana hesitates for a moment, but Svarline motions her forward.  
Serana gives us a nod, then walks after her mother.  
I wait long enough for Serana’s vampiric ears to be out of hearing range before I turn to Durnehviir. “So you know of any way to restore your soul so you can leave this place?”  
The dragon chuckles. “Thank you for your willingness to aid me, but there is no way to free me, young one.”  
“We’ll figure something out Durnehviir. It might take a little while, but we’ll do our best to get you out of here.” Svarline says.  
The dragon looks at her curiously, and nods. “If you are truly able to free me, I will be grateful, but forgive me if I do not hold much faith in your efforts.”  
“Don’t worry about it.” I say. “We’ll do our best, but I’m not arrogant enough to conclusively say our best will be good enough.”  
The dragon nods. “I thank you once more for your efforts, but I must go now. I have duties I must see to.” Without another word, the dragon leaps into the air, and flies off.  
We watch him as he flies away, then Svar turns to me.  
“Do you have any ideas for how to free him?” She asks.  
I shake my head. “Not a damn clue. Like he said, we have nothing to offer the Ideal Masters, and I’d be hesitant to bargain with them even if we did. Almost every one of the Daedric Princes is honorable in their bargains. The Ideal Masters aren’t. It should say something that I’d rather deal with a Prince than one of them.”  
Svar nods. “I don’t really know all that much about them, so I’ll defer to you, but I don’t want to leave him here.” She looks off in the direction Durnehviir flew in. “He shouldn’t be trapped in this place. No one should.”  
I let out a long breath. “I don’t know if it’s possible, but I’ll try to think of something.”  
“I know it’s a long shot,” She says sadly. “but I’d like to try nonetheless.”  
“Well, we’ve got some time to work something out. How are you feeling by the way?” I ask as I turn to look at her.  
She gives me a smile. “Better now. I just need to take it easy for a while, and I’ll be fine.”  
“Let me know if anything changes alright?”  
She nods. “I will.”  
I look to the door of the castle. “I guess we should get going. We can give Serana and her mom some space for a bit, but we’ll need to talk about what our next step is eventually.”  
“That woman is very interesting.” Svar says contemplatively.  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Valerica? What about her?”  
Svar shrugs. “She went from trying to eat you, to loving mother, to overprotective mother, to extremely dangerous and threatening all in the span of an hour. I get the sense that most people she meets don’t get to walk away.”  
I chuckle. “I’m pretty sure the only reason we did is because Serana is with us. Even if you were at full strength I don’t know if the two of us could take her out. She’s way too old, and way too powerful. It would come down to what side Serana took, but I don’t want to put her in that position.”  
Svar shakes her head. “I don’t either, so let's play nice, and let them be for a bit. There’s plenty of room in this fortress for us to give them some space.”  
I nod, and the two of us walk back into the castle.

  
(Serana)

  
My mother leads me through a series of corridors until we come to a large room that appears to be her workshop.   
There are enchanting supplies in one corner, and alchemy supplies in another. Tall bookshelves line the room. They hold both books and ingredients of various types. On a small stone table at the far end of the room, I feel a great power emanating from a long box.  
“Is that…?”  
“The Elder Scroll?” My mother finishes for me. “Yes, it is. I notice you did not bring your own with you. Would you mind telling me where you have hidden it?”  
I smirk at her. “We did bring it mother. Dusk has access to a pocket dimension of sorts. Both scrolls we possess are safe within it.”  
My mother’s features go from inquisitive to shocked. “You trusted the seer with your Elder Scroll?! What were you thinking?!”  
I control my anger, and do my best to respond calmly. “Mother, I told you already that he and Svarline will not betray my trust. It draws less attention for him to carry the scrolls than it would for me to wear it on my back. If I asked him to, he would give me not only both Scrolls, but the Staff as well.”  
My mother scrunches her eyebrows. “Staff? What staff?”  
I smile. “We have the Staff of Magnus.”  
She looks at me in disbelief, but then her eyes widen when she sees I am being serious. “How?” She asks dumbfounded.  
My smile grows even wider at her reaction. I do believe this is the first time I have ever seen her so shocked. It is rather amusing.  
I move to one of the chairs situated in the room while my mother sits in another.   
“As I told you, Dusk is a seer of sorts. He knows quite a bit about the world, and during our construction of the portal we needed components from a slain wispmother.”  
My mother nods. “Yes I remember that. It took me over a year to track one of them down.”  
I smile again. “It took us a little over a week. Dusk already had the location of one, and it just so happened there was also a dragon priest within the same ruin.”  
My mother’s eyes widened in surprise. “You did battle with a dragon priest? Was it guarding the Staff?”  
I shake my head. “No. It wielded the Staff.”  
My mother sits in stunned silence for a moment.  
It is quite fun to get the better of her like this.   
“Forgive me daughter,” My mother begins. “but how do you still live? I do not doubt your power, but a dragon priest armed with the Staff of Magnus would have torn you apart. It would likely have defeated me as well. Did you steal the Staff and flee?”  
I laugh. “I was not alone mother, and Svarline and Dusk have advantages you are not aware of.”  
She tilts her head. “While I admit your Dusk was surprisingly strong, the Svarline girl was far from impressive, and Dusk’s strength is primarily magical if I am not mistaken. Something that would be all but useless against the Staff of Magnus. I fail to see how the three of you were triumphant.”  
“Dusk’s sword is one of the most interesting artifacts I have ever seen, and Svarline did not impress you only because she is currently without her soul.” I respond.  
My mother raises an eyebrow at me. “I had assumed that was her typical state of being. Even I would have trouble removing a being’s soul without harming them.”  
I smile knowingly. “She is special, and the method she used to remove her soul is irreplicable by any who are not like her. We will retrieve her soul and make her whole once we leave this place.”  
Mother smiles amusedly. “While I can appreciate building suspense daughter, I would ask that you tell me exactly why she is ‘special’?”  
“She is dragonborn.” I say. “The last dragonborn if the legends are to be believed.”  
Once again, I delight in the shocked look upon her face as my mother realizes I am telling the truth.  
“That would explain why Paarthurnax would spend his time training her.” She says after a moment.  
I tilt my head at her. “You know of Paarthurnax?”  
She waves me off. “My knowledge of the dragon is far from perfect. What little I do know was taken from various histories that all contradict one-another, and a few stories Durnehviir has told. The only unifying factor across all of my sources is that Paarthurnax is one of the strongest, and oldest, of his brethren.”  
I nod. “He is incredibly strong. Of the two dragons I have faced, he is the strongest. The one we have killed seems as if a child who never trained their power. Paarthurnax is a dragon that has learned. He was not content with what he was given, and has vastly improved himself. I do not believe the three of us would be able to defeat him.”  
Mother tilts her head inquisitively. “‘Of the two dragons you have faced’? You have faced more than one?”  
I nod. “Once again, Dusk knew the location of a dragon who resided within Blackreach. In an effort to increase Svarline’s power, the three of us hunted and killed the beast. That is also where we acquired the second Elder Scroll.”  
My mother takes a long moment to process that.  
She lets out a long breath. “Not only have you slain a dragon, but you have been to a hidden dwarven city I believed to be nothing but fable where you acquired a second Elder Scroll, and you have killed a dragon priest who wielded the Staff of Magnus.” She focuses her gaze on me intently. “You still have not explained how you were able to accomplish such a feat. I would assume it has something to do with Dusk’s sword?”  
I smile. “I would not have attempted a direct confrontation with the lich without that weapon. It is called Yamato, and it is able to cut through almost anything.”  
Mother raises an eyebrow. “Define ‘anything’.”  
I smile. “I have personally seen it cut through dragonhide, solid stone, a ward that protected the tomb in which the dragon priest was sealed, and a large number of ghosts. The only thing I have seen to outright stop the blade was the Staff of Magnus. The sword can also be used to cut things from a distance. That is how Dusk disarmed the dragon priest of the Staff.”  
Mother tilts her head as she considers my statement. “That sword would greatly increase anyone’s martial capability. It sounds incredibly powerful, so why have I not heard of it?”  
“It is not from this world, nor any I know of.” I answer.  
Mother raises an eyebrow. “How did he come to possess it if it is not of Mundus, nor of Oblivion?”  
“He actually showed me how he received the blade.” I respond. “He has an ability that pulls various items from a variety of worlds, but it is unpredictable. He can only use it at certain times, and he has no power over what he receives. He received Yamato from one use, and a rock from another.”  
My mother chuckles. “I have met beings with similarly unpredictable gifts. It is always a pleasure to watch their reactions.”  
I laugh. “Yes it is. While I watched, he believed he had received an incredibly powerful item, but it was merely a rather large lump of gold.”  
Mother raises an eyebrow at me. “Merely a lump of gold? Many would kill for such an item.”  
I scoff. “Mother, you know me. When have I ever placed stock in such materialistic things?”  
She hums. “I seem to remember a certain necklace…”  
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” I say immediately with a straight face.  
We are not discussing this.  
Mother throws her head back and laughs.  
I smile as I see the joy in her features.  
A question wells up to the front of my mind, and I frown.  
I have been asking this of myself since I awoke, but I am afraid to receive the answer.  
Mother notices my discomfort, and quickly stops laughing. “What is wrong daughter?” She asks.  
I look into her eyes. “Why did you leave me behind?” I ask quietly. “I would have come with you. I wanted to come with you, so why did you leave me in that tomb?”  
She says nothing for a long time.  
I am about to change the topic when she speaks.  
“I wanted better for you.” She says with her eyes focused on the ground. She looks up to meet my gaze. “Look around this place Serana. Can you truthfully tell me you would be happy if you were trapped in this place for all eternity? I sealed you away because I hoped to spare you from this fate.”  
I shake my head. “I would have come with you mother. I would have enjoyed it so long as we were together.”  
She shakes her head in turn. “You saw me when you first entered the castle did you not? I have been starved for nearly a thousand years. Every day is torture in this place. I must simultaneously sustain myself with blood magic, while also fighting off the Soul Cairn’s influence with soul magic.”  
She stands from her chair, and walks to the table atop which the Elder Scroll rests. She places her arms on the table, and leans against it. “I sealed you with the Scroll I did to mislead Harkon in case he ever found you. Without this Scroll, he would have searched all of Tamriel for Auriel’s Bow. Never knowing how to use it. I was content to guard this Scroll for eternity, if it meant that you would not be killed by your own father.”  
I stand from my chair and walk to the center of the room. “That thing is not my father. I have not cared for him since he offered us to Bal. Since then, I have only considered you family, and you left me.” I try to fight the tears, but my efforts prove useless.  
Mother turns around, and faces me. “I am sorry Serana.” She says softly. “I wanted you to be able to live as you wished. Without having to worry about whatever he wanted from you. I thought that if he retrieved only your Scroll, that he would let you free. That you would finally be free of him. I gave up my own freedom to protect yours.”  
“I never asked you to!” I yell. “Had you told me of your plans, we could have worked something out together, but you pushed me away! You acted without consulting me, and left me in a dark abyss for millenia! And now when I come to free you, you tell me to leave without you! To abandon you, as you abandoned me! I will not leave without you mother, so gather your things and prepare to leave.”  
She closes her eyes, and takes a long breath. She opens her eyes once more, and focuses on me.  
She slowly walks forward, and I don’t resist as she pulls me into a hug.  
“I love you Serana, and I am sorry for all of my mistakes, but I will not leave this place without Durnehviir. His soul will be forfeit for all time if I am able to escape his watch. There are so few immortals I call friends, and I count him among them. I will not abandon him to his fate.”  
“Even for me?” I ask, but I regret the words the second I say them.  
Mother pulls back and looks down at me with narrowed eyes. “If I asked you to stay with me, to abandon your Svarline and your Dusk, would you? While I do not feel for Durnehviir as you feel for them, he is still one of the greatest friends I have ever possessed. Do not ask me to choose between the two of you.”  
“I am sorry mother. I am not thinking clearly right now.” I say.  
She smiles, and pulls me closer. “You are forgiven daughter.”  
I hold her tight.  
She cannot come with me until Durnehviir is freed, and I doubt we have anything that will interest the Ideal Masters.  
Perhaps we could bargain with another Prince to take possession of Durnehviir’s contract before trading with us? We have the Staff of Magnus to bargain, as well as three Elder Scrolls. Dusk and Svarline may not be happy to give up such items, but I believe they would if I asked them to.  
“Mother?” I speak up. “Could we possibly bargain with a Prince to take over Durnehviir’s contract from the Ideal Masters in exchange for the Scrolls?”  
My mother pulls back, and shakes her head sadly. “Daedric Princes care more for their souls than they do for artifacts. The only one who might be willing to make such an arrangement is Hermaeus Mora, and it will only fulfill the letter of the agreement, not the spirit. This is disregarding the fact that none would be willing to risk a bargain with the Ideal Masters.”  
I scrunch my eyebrows. “Is there any other being we could turn to then? The Princes are not the only powerful beings who make deals with those they believe lesser than themselves.”  
Mother opens her mouth to respond, but stops herself. She gets a faraway look in her eye, and steps away from me. “I might know of such a being.” She says distractedly.  
She briskly walks over to her bookshelves, and begins scanning the spines of various books. She finds what she is looking for, and pulls it from the shelf. After flipping through the pages, she smiles.  
She looks up at me with an expression of glee on her face. “Serana, you are a genius.”  
I smile. “I am your daughter.”  
She turns to me. “You said you have the Staff of Magnus yes? Did you bring it with you?”  
I nod. “Dusk hasn’t taken it out since he put it there.”  
My mother laughs, and begins gathering ingredients. “Using the Staff of Magnus as a power source, this may just work.” She says.  
I look through the book she set down, and feel my own lips pull up into an even greater smile.  
This will do.  
I look over to my mother. “Do you have any mirrors in this castle?”

(Dusk)

Svar and I are sitting in some chairs we found, when Serana bursts into the room.  
“We need your help.” She says quickly, and motions for us to follow.  
Svar and I share a look, before we rise to our feet and follow after Serana.  
“What happened?” Svar asks as we briskly walk down the hall.  
Serana shakes her head. “Nothing malicious.” She says. “My mother and I may have discovered a way to free Durnehviir.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “How exactly do you plan on doing that? We’re not exactly fit to take on the Ideal Masters in any fashion.”  
Seranan smiles at me. “Correct. We are not, but there are others who are.”  
Svar scrunches her eyebrows. “Are you going to make a deal with a Daedric Prince? To circumvent the Ideal Masters? That doesn’t sound like it’ll end well.”  
Serana shakes her head. “We do not have anything a Prince would risk dealing with the Ideal Masters for, but there are other entities we can turn to.”  
I turn to Serana. “Not to be an asshole, but the way you said that makes it sound like whatever you’re planning is an even worse idea than dealing with a Prince.”  
Serana smiles at me. “From a certain perspective, it is a worse idea.”  
This is going to end horribly isn’t it? Is it Murphy’s fault if I expect bad shit to happen? I’ll figure it out later.  
“You’re really not filling us with confidence here Serana.” Svar deadpans.  
Serana’s smile disappears, and she regards us seriously. “My mother and I have looked over everything we have on this entity, and we feel the risk to be minimal. We would not attempt this otherwise. The being in question always honors their deals, and so long as we are careful with our wording, there will be no loopholes to exploit.”  
“Who is this ‘entity’?” I ask. “Have we heard of it, and are you sure it won’t try to screw us over? I mean, what do we even have that it could want?”  
Serana stops walking, prompting Svar and I to stop as well.  
Serana looks between the two of us with something akin to… hesitation?   
This can’t be good.  
“Answering your questions in order, I doubt you will have ever heard of him. He is from beyond Oblivion. It is normally impossible to call him from where he currently resides, but my mother has learned a significant amount about summoning in her time here, and those who summoned him before used similar methods. As I said, he has proven to be honorable so long as those he deals with uphold their end of the bargain, and we have four things he could be interested in.”  
I raise an eyebrow.   
What the hell do we have that some being from past Oblivion could want? I mean, the only things that would interest something like that would be…  
“The Elder Scrolls, and the Staff of Magnus.” I say aloud. “You’re saying we’d have to give this guy Elder Scrolls, and the Staff of Magnus? This being we don’t even know, that will do god knows what with them.”  
Svar takes a deep breath. “Serana, how can you be so sure this thing won’t take the Staff and absorb all the magic on Mundas?” She asks. “Even with Dusk’s ability, we don’t know all of what the thing’s capable of, and now we’re giving it to something that can deal on even terms with the Ideal Masters? I don’t know much about the Ideal Masters, but in my head I’ve been likening them to the Princes. If this guy is even close to the same level as the Princes, giving him anything is a bad idea.”  
“Humor me here Serana.” I say. “You know I know stuff I shouldn’t, so give me his name or whatever you have on him. I might be able to give you more information about the guy.”  
She looks at me, and nods. “Very well. From what we have been able to research, he is a greater demon or something similar. We do not possess his name, but we do know that he is related to mirrors somehow.”  
Greater demon from The Elder Scrolls universe that likes mirrors huh?   
“I have no idea who this guy could be.” I say honestly.   
My knowledge of the lore is far from perfect, so who’s to say I didn’t miss a mirror god somewhere?  
I mean, I know Anu and Padomay are mirrors of one-another, but if anyone had a way to summon either of them there wouldn’t be a world anymore. Anu is the world afterall.  
Maybe Shor because of the whole Lorkhan relationship thing? Ya I don’t know.  
“We will work out the details later.” Serana says. She looks between Svar and I. “My mother will not leave this place without Durnehviir, and I refuse to let her stay here any longer. We must free the dragon, and to do that we will need the Scrolls and the Staff as bargaining chips. Will you help me?” She asks.  
Svar takes a moment, then speaks. “I’m in, but we have to be careful about this. I don’t like the idea of giving the Staff to someone incredibly powerful only for them to kill us with it after the deal’s complete.”  
Serana nods to Svar. “Thank you Svarline.”  
Both women turn to me expectantly.  
This is such a bad idea. No, it’s actually not a bad idea. Bad ideas have the possibility of working out. This is suicide. Plain and simple. We are asking to get ourselves killed here.  
Why the fuck was there a ‘we’ in that last sentence?  
Oh god fucking damnit.  
I pull the two Elder Scrolls from my inventory, and toss them to Serana.  
She catches them, then looks up to me surprised.  
I look her in the eyes, and say, “I’m going to go on record here, and say if we try this we’re all probably going to die. When everyone starts pointing fingers, and looking for someone to blame for the elder god getting unleashed, remember that.”  
Serana’s eyes light up, and she smiles. “Thank you.” She looks between Svar and I. “Thank you both. Now follow me. We are not yet ready, and could use your help preparing.”  
Serana leads us through the castle until we come to a high ceilinged room. Valerica is knelt down in the center of the room. Her hand is alight with magical energy, and she is tracing a shape.  
Please tell me she’s not drawing a pentagram.  
Valerica finishes her drawing, and stands to face us. Her eyes fall upon the two Scrolls in Serana’s hands, then look at me curiously.  
“Serana said you had a pocket dimension of sorts within which you could store things, but I must admit I was skeptical. I have never heard of such an ability before. You are quite interesting Dusk.” She says contemplatively.  
Why is it that whenever an immortal says I’m interesting I always feel the need to flee in terror?   
Valerica turns to Svar. “And you dragonborn.”   
Svar meets her gaze without flinching. “Yes?” She asks.  
Valerica smiles at her. “You are interesting as well. I believe I see why my daughter chose to keep your company when you awoke her.”  
I don’t know how to respond to that. Is that a compliment? An insult?  
I’m just going to assume the answer is yes and move on.  
“What exactly do we need to do here?” I ask as I walk forward. “Serana gave us a basic rundown of what we’re attempting, but Svar and I aren't really clear on our role in this.”  
Valerica turns to me. “For now, your aid is unnecessary. My daughter has told me of your respective talents, and they are not suited for creating a bridge with which to summon the entity. However, you Dusk, will be instrumental in powering the spell.” She turns to Svar. “If you are able to use your thu’um Svarline, you can assist us with opening the gateway.”  
I don’t like the sound of that.  
“I’m aware I’m not the expert here,” I start. “but ‘gateway’ doesn’t sound good. We’re only opening a path for the one guy right?”  
Serana nods to me. “We are being extremely cautious Dusk. He will be the only being allowed through, and we will be able to repel him if he proves too powerful.”  
Valerica nods. “Now Dusk, I do not presume to order you, but the Staff of Magnus will be required to power the ritual. It must contain a large amount of mana in order to work however.”  
“So my job is to fill the thing with magic?” I guess.  
Serana nods. “Yes, and when the ritual starts, we will need your electromancy to begin the process.”  
I shrug. “Alright. It gives me a job to do, and keeps me out of your hair. Let me know when we’re starting this thing.”  
I walk to the far corner of the room, and pull the Staff of Magnus from my inventory.  
“Bon appetit Mr. Staff.” I say, and begin filling the thing with spells.

I spend the next few hours standing in the corner, and filling the Staff with magic. With my insane MP regen it takes only eighty seconds to completely refill my MP pool, so I don’t have all that much trouble pouring a large amount of spells into the Staff.  
“Dusk.” I hear, and turn to look over my shoulder.  
Svarline stands there with Yamato out. “Apparently we’re ready.” She says.  
I nod, and follow her back to the center of the room.   
“So be honest,” I say. “is the Staff actually going to help or did you just want me to shut up?” I ask looking pointedly at Valerica.  
She smiles. “Both.”  
Serana turns to glare at her. “Mother...” She growls warningly.  
I wave Serana off. “So long as this works, I don’t care. We’ll save the posturing for when we’re out of this place.” I turn to Valerica. “Fair?”  
She thinks for a moment, then nods. “Very well. Now, the Staff if you would?” She holds out her hand.  
I hold in a sigh, and pass it over.  
If she wanted to kill me, I’m willing to bet I’d be dead already. Hell, she probably would’ve if Serana hadn’t stopped her. Her having a powerful weapon in hand isn’t going to lessen my chances all that much.  
Valerica nods in thanks, then motions to the Elder Scrolls. “Please put those in your other space, and the second the Staff has been used, place it within your space as well. It is best that we do not tip our hand early. The less the entity knows of our possessions, the less he will ask in exchange for what we want.”  
I do as she says, then walk back over to Svar.  
“And what precisely is that?” Svar speaks up. “I get we’re trying to free Durnehviir, but is there anything else you two are going to ask for? I’d rather know now, than have that just randomly dropped on us in the middle of negotiations.”  
Valerica shakes her head. “My only goal is to free my friend. You can be assured I will not attempt to use this to my own advantage.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her, then turn to Serana. “Not that I don’t trust your mom, but I don’t trust your mom. Is she trying to screw us over?”  
Valerica looks to me with an amused expression, while Serana turns to me.  
“She is not attempting to deceive us.” Serana says with conviction.   
I let out a sigh. “Alright, let’s get this done.”  
Valerica nods, then points to a position on the floor. “Please stand there, and be ready to use your magic on the circle.” She indicates the circle on the ground, and I look down at it.  
It’s a pentagram. Of course it’s a fucking pentagram. I was already doubting this bullshit, and now there’s a god damn purple hued glowing pentagram on the ground.  
I sigh again, and stand in the indicated spot.  
If we summon Cthulhu, I’m leaving Valerica and teleporting Serana and Svar out of here.   
No hard feelings Valerica, but if you thought summoning Cthulhu was a good idea, then you deserve to be left behind.  
Everyone else moves around. Svar steps back from the circle, while Serana and Valerica move forward.  
“Before we begin, are there any questions?” Valerica asks.  
“I’m only firing a few spells right? After that you and Serana take over?” I ask.  
Valerica nods to me. “Yes. The two of us will be able to complete the casting by using the Staff. Be ready to send it away when I return it to you.”  
I nod. “I’m ready.”  
Valerica looks at Svar and Serana, but neither of them speak up. “Then let us begin.” She says. She pulls a small hand mirror from her robes, and places it down in the center of the circle. She then turns to me. “Please unleash your magic on the center of the circle.”  
I nod, and begin channeling my electromancy.  
I charge the spell for nearly half a minute, then say. “Now.” I let loose the spell into the mirror in the center of the circle, and the lines change from a faint purple hue, to a vibrant blue.  
The instant the spell hits, Valerica slams the Staff of Magnus into the ground.   
I feel a veritable ocean of mana flood out of the staff into the circle. Valerica keeps forcing magic into the circle, and turns her head to Svar.  
“Now.” Valerica says.  
Svar leans forward, and shouts, “BEX!” Once the shout is complete, she leans against a support column as the exhaustion sets in.  
I start to move towards her, but she waves me off.   
She takes a seat on the ground, and the two of us look back to the ritual.  
In response to Svar’s thu’um, a small violet sphere begins to open in the center of the pentagram.  
Serana reaches both of her hands out, and forces her own magic into the sphere, causing it to slowly grow.   
Valerica changes targets, now focusing the Staff’s power on the sphere, and causing it to grow at an absurd pace.  
The last of the mana, slowly drains from the Staff, and Valerica tosses it to me almost as an afterthought as she focuses on the steadily growing sphere.  
I place the Staff in my inventory, then walk behind Serana.  
Her teeth are grinding together, and her arms are shaking. She’s on her last legs.  
Shit. Is there anything I can do?  
I remember back to Labyrinthian just as Morokei was about to overpower me.   
She helped me then right? She used soul magic to help me.   
No better time to learn than when you’re summoning an elder god.  
I place my hand on Serana’s shoulder, and careful not to let the Soul Cairn overload my senses, I reach forward with my soul magic.  
I feel Serana’s soul tiredly throwing mana into the circle in an effort to complete the ritual, but she’s slowing down. I imagine a chain connecting the two of us, and begin pouring my mana through it. My MP rapidly drains, but Serana becomes reinvigorated.  
Neat trick.  
I pour all of my mana through the connection, then convert my SP to MP and send her that as well.  
Another few seconds pass, before a loud *BOOM* emanates from the sphere. The sphere wobbles in mid air, then collapses into a pancake before disappearing completely.  
Serana and Valerica stop sending magic through the portal, and begin looking around.  
“Did it work?” Svar asks. Once more on her feet.  
“Yes.” Valerica says with certainty. “Something came through.”  
Fuck.  
I begin scanning the area, and listening for anything that might be around.  
I hear… bells?  
“Does anyone else hear that?” Serana asks calmly.  
“Yes.” Valerica and I say together.  
I listen more intently, and hear the whispering voice of young children drifting through the air.  
Huh, this tune seems familiar. Where the hell have I heard it before?

His smile fair as spring, as towards him he draws you;  
His tongue sharp and silvery as he implores you.

As the words continue, the picture becomes more and more clear. I know where this song is from.   
I know where this song is from, and we’re summoning a guy who is connected to mirrors…   
“Oh fuck.” I say aloud.  
Serana and Svar snap their heads in my direction. Both having recognized my tone.   
“I know who this guy is.” I say.  
Valerica now also snaps her head to look at me. “You what?” She asks.  
Before I can answer, more singing voices whisper around the area.

Your wishes he grants, as he swears to adore you,  
Gold, silver, jewels - he lays riches before you.  
Dues need be repaid and he will come for you  
All to reclaim, no smile to console you.

“There.” Svar says calmly as she points up.  
The rest of us follow her direction, and see a man standing on nothing near the ceiling. Leaning casually against a support column.  
The man has sunburnt skin, and wears his hair in a buzzcut. He wears an orange shirt with a large brown collar, as well as a pair of blue pants.  
Holy shit it’s actually him.

He'll snare you in bonds, eyes glowing afire  
To gore and torment you till the stars expire!

The man smiles jovially down at us, then slowly begins walking down to meet us. He doesn’t fly, nor does he fall. He walks down the air as if down a staircase.  
Even with Gamer’s Mind, I’m starting to freak out. If this guy wanted to, he could probably kill every single one of us without anyone knowing it.  
How the fuck is he even here?! This shouldn’t be possible! We’re in the goddamn Elder Scrolls! There’s some pretty major laws and beings stopping him from getting anywhere near here!  
The man finishes his descent, and comes to a stop in the center of the pentagram.   
He bends over, and picks up the mirror within. He brushes it off, and places it in a satchel hanging down by his side.  
The man looks around the room and sighs contentedly. “Ah, what an interesting place.” He waves his hand through the air, then leans forward to inspect the space his hand just passed through.  
He turns to the four of us with a grin. “Interesting indeed.”

(Interlude: Sybille Stentor)

I stand next to Elisif as we stare down at our ‘guests’. Mirabelle stands beside me  
“You were to come with your generals.” Elisif calls down coldly from the ramparts.  
The black haired vampire grins. “I have brought the only one who needs to be present. Movarth is preparing my forces for when you spring the inevitable trap.”  
Ulfric growls as he glares at the woman. “You might lack honor fiend, but we do not.”  
The vampire raises an eyebrow at him, before turning back to Elisif. “You have heard my terms. You will surrender the city to me, and be gone within one week’s time. If you are not, we will slaughter you all.”  
Elisif’s eyes narrow, and she calls back down, but I’m too distracted to listen to what she says.  
The Crone has stood in silence at Potema’s side for this entire parlay. There were moments where she attempted speech, but more than likely the witch has prevented her from speaking.  
She’s trying to tell us something. Something Potema wants obscured.  
Potema and Elisif continue to trade words, but I am focused on every one of the Crone’s movements.  
She sees me watching her, and her eyes lock onto mine.  
She brings her hand to her wrist, and slowly drags her finger across it.  
Understanding her meaning, I bring my claw to my wrist and cut it open.  
Blood starts to flow from the wound, but quickly stops. My blood flows up slowly in an organized pattern, and it starts to form letters.

‘Movarth in Potema’s escape passage. He will strike from behind while we strike from front.’

My eyes widen as I read over the words.  
“It’s a trap!” I yell. “Movarth is using a forgotten tunnel to enter the city!”  
Potema’s head snaps in my direction, before she slowly turns to face the Crone. “You.” She growls.  
The Crone stares forward. She doesn’t react in any way.  
Potema reaches out and grabs the woman by the throat. “I have given you too much leash it seems.” She seethes. Potema looks up, and yells, “Advance!” She takes one last look up at us, and speeds away. Dragging the Crone behind her.  
“Mirabelle,” Elisif speaks quickly. “find where Movarth will enter the city, and get as many of our troops there as possible. Ulfric, you are in charge of holding the wall. They cannot be allowed to enter the city.”  
The man nods. “They won’t make it through us.”  
The four of us turn as we hear a horn blow.  
Looking out over the field, I see an organized column of undead marching directly towards us.  
“Go.” Ulfric says terse. “Give Movarth my regards.” He steps forward as the archers resume their positions, and begins barking orders to the troops.  
“We found him.” Mirabelle says. “He’s about to break through a wall into the Blue Palace.”  
Elisif nods. “Then go. We can’t let them overwhelm our forces from behind.”  
“I’ll escort you to the Temple of the Divines, then go after Mirabelle.” I say.  
“No.” Elisif says quickly. “You must stop Movarth now. I will manage on my own.”  
I regard her for a moment longer, then move next to Mirabelle.  
Elisif can handle herself.  
“Do we have forces ready to meet Movarth?” I ask Mirabelle as she begins casting a teleportation spell.  
She shakes her head. “Savos is gathering what warriors he can, but they will not be there in time.”  
“So it’s just us then?” I ask.  
Mirabelle nods gravely. “We need to buy Savos time to reinforce us.”  
I take a deep breath, and allow myself a small smile.  
I’ve been waiting for a chance to cut loose.  
Mirabelle reaches her hand out to me, and I take it.  
After a short buzzing sensation, the two of us reappear in the kitchens of the Blue Palace.  
What staff are left, are quickly fleeing.  
Mirabelle must have passed along our information.  
“Ma’am!”  
I turn to my right and see four of the palace guards standing at attention.  
“Where are the rest of you?” I ask quickly.  
“At the wall ma’am. We’re only here because we were injured.”  
Glancing over their bodies, I see various wrappings soaked through with blood. One of the men is struggling to stand.  
If they stay here, they’ll die.  
I shake my head. “Leave. We will handle this.”  
“With all do respect ma’am, if those vamps make it through here the city’s lost. We’re staying.” All four look resolute in their decision.  
I hear something impact the opposite side of the far wall.  
They’re here.  
I turn back to the men. “Guard the exit to this room. You are not to let a single one of them through, understood?”  
They salute, and hobble off to guard the door.  
Another, much louder impact connects with the wall.  
Mirabelle and I begin channeling our magic, and two elementals come into existence directly in front of the wall that is about to be breached.  
No one speaks as a third impact connects with the wall, and it falls inward.  
A bald man with angular features, and pale skin steps through the debris. “I wasn’t expecting company so soon.” He says conversationally. “Which one of you will be my partner?”   
I charge towards him as more vampires spill out of the hole in the wall.  
The elementals lash out, and Mirabelle begins supporting me with her magic.  
As my blade locks with Movarth’s, I grin.  
I’ve been looking forward to this.

(Interlude: Hulda)

  
I block another strike from the attacking guard, and slide my sword under his arm. I impale him, then kick him away.  
“How many more?” I call over my shoulder.  
“There’s only half a dozen left!” Saadia calls down from the roof as she readies another arrow.  
I was pretty surprised when the girl proved to be a good shot. She’s obviously had weapons in her hand before, but I’ll ask her about it when my inn isn’t under assault.  
“Gotta say Ears,” I say as I cut down another brainwashed idiot. “This is a right clusterfuck.”  
A torrent of ice swallows two more of the idiots as Irileth walks forward. “Talk later, kill now!”  
Can’t argue with that.  
Saadia takes down one more with her bow, and Irileth and I dispatch the two who are left with our swords.  
I pull a rag from my belt pouch to clean my blade with, and turn to Irileth. “You wanna explain what’s goin’ on Ears?”  
She takes a look around us, but relaxes when she sees there aren’t any reinforcements on the way. “Farengar’s gone insane.” She seethes. “He had Proventus killed, and is using some kind of daedric magic to influence everyone who’s left over to his side. I don’t know how he’s doing it, but we have to stop him.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “‘We’? I’m retired Ears. I can just move cities. This is your problem.”  
She gives me an unimpressed look. “You wouldn’t leave me to deal with this on my own. Besides, heading to another city might be a death sentence for you. You heard Falkreath was burned down right?”  
I sigh, and look up at Saadia. “Make sure the bar’s clear, then get me a bottle of something strong.”  
She opens and closes her mouth for a bit, but eventually climbs back through the roof hatch to do as I say.  
I look out at the street, and am met with a lot of locked doors, and pulled drapes.  
“You’d think one of the fuckers would’ve at least thrown stuff at ‘em. How many times have I comp’d their drinks?” I say to myself.  
“Hulda!” Irileth grabs my shoulder, and shakes me. “I need your help. Whiterun cannot remain under Farengar’s thumb. He’ll tear the entire city apart! The man’s gone crazy!”  
I let out a long sigh.  
I opened a bar because I didn’t want to deal with shit like this anymore. Sure you get drunken brawls every other night, but that just keeps the more serious problems away.  
Saadia emerges outside through the front door, and holds out a pitch black bottle to me.  
Oh thank the divines! She brought the good stuff.  
I pull the cork off, and take a long drink of the liquid fire.  
I breathe out contentedly, then turn back to Irileth. “What do you need me to do Ears?”

(Interlude: Gynri)

I struggle against the ropes binding my hands and legs together as the robed men drag me towards the altar.  
I try to scream, but the gag does a very effective job of cutting off my voice.  
The men throw me to the ground next to over a dozen similarly tied women, then step back.  
I keep struggling. Trying anything to get free.  
I don’t know what these assholes are doing with us, but it can’t be anything good.  
I’m still fighting against my bindings when a man in a white robe steps forward. He holds a book in one hand, and a staff in the other.  
“Lord of Domination!” The man says in a deep voice. “Accept these, our offerings to you. Let their bodies and souls sate your desire.”  
“Let them sate your desire.” The other robed men all echo.  
This is bad.  
I redouble my efforts, and feel the ropes on my wrists give slightly.  
“Open the way to your divine realm so that you might accept our meager offering.” The man in white continues.  
“Open the way.” The rest echo.  
The ropes binding my hands come loose, and I start pulling at the ones around my legs.  
Either no one notices that I have freed myself, or no one cares, because the white robed man continues speaking.  
“Open the way great Lord, so that we may lavish you in our worship.”  
“Open the way.” The rest echo.  
I pull the ropes off my legs, and pull the gag from my mouth. I reach up to the altar and grab the iron candlestick off of it.  
I run straight towards the man in white, but I collapse as something wraps around my legs.  
I look down, and see a black tendril wrapped tightly around my leg. I frantically look around, and see the other tied women in a similar position. They are all now writhing uncontrollably as the black tendrils wrap themselves around the women’s body’s.   
I scream, but I’m cut off when more of the black ichor covers my mouth and nose. Blocking my airway.  
“Lord of Domination!” The man in white screams “Open the way to your realm! Let us...ack”  
I look towards the man just in time to see his head fall away from his body. The black robed men around me start screaming.  
I try to look around some more, but the ichor restricts my movement.  
“Get that putrid filth off of them!” An authoritative female voice calls.  
I feel the black goo pull back, and struggle my way out of it.  
I take in several deep breaths, and look around.  
Every one of the robed figures lies dead on the ground. Lightly armored men and women in hoods stand over the corpses, and begin to untie the other women.  
I turn back to the altar, and see a large circular hole in reality.  
I stare transfixed at it, but a new terror fills me when a powerful voice comes through the hole.

The first of my unwilling brides returns to save others from their fate.  
Have you nothing better to do with the gift I bestowed upon you?

A woman walks forward until she is mere feet from the portal. “You gave me no gift demon. I will not rest until you lie dead at my feet King of Rape.”   
The voice chuckles.

You are unable to kill me Lamae, but it will be most enjoyable to watch you try.  
Until next we meet.

The portal rapidly closes, and the woman turns around.  
It’s now that I’m able to get my first real look at her.  
She has silver hair that frames her face. Pale skin and lips, and dark red eyes. She wears nothing but a simple white dress with a red sash.  
Her eyes find mine, and she tilts her head curiously. “You fought your way free?” She asks perplexed.  
Unable to speak due to the magnitude of the situation, I simply nod.  
The woman smiles, and kneels down to look at me. “You are a fighter. I need those who are willing to fight. Will you join me?” She holds her hand out to me.  
I don’t know why, but I know what the right choice is.  
I take the woman’s hand.


	19. 19

I don’t think it’s possible to quantify how utterly fucked we are right now.  
I knew this was a bad idea, but I just had to go along with it. It’s not like anything too bad could happen right?  
Turns out, it is Murphy’s fault even if you expect to get screwed over.  
We’re so fucking dead.  
The bald man tilts his head, and looks around our group. “I must say I was not expecting this when I woke up this morning. It’s been a long time since anyone was able to summon me.” He leans forward slightly, and clasps his hands behind his back. “Would you mind introducing yourselves? It would be rude of me not to address my hosts by their names after all.”  
Ok. I can work with this. He’s in, ‘this is fun’ mode right now. So long as he stays in that mode, we’ve got a chance.  
Just play along, and don’t be an asshole.  
I step forward. “My name’s Dusk. That’s Serana, Valerica, and Svar.” I point to each woman as I say their names.  
He turns to me with a cheerful smile, and gives me a small bow. “Gaunter O’Dimm, also known as Master Mirror, at your service.” He rights himself, and begins looking around our surroundings. “Dreadfully sorry, but could you tell me where we are? I’ve been to this neck of the woods before, but never found myself in this particular grove.”  
“We are currently in the Soul Cairn.” Valerica says calmly. “It is a plane of Oblivion ruled by the Ideal Masters.”  
Damn this woman’s got a cool head. Either that, or she doesn’t get what this guy is. I’m willing to bet it’s probably the latter.  
“Ah,” O’Dimm says. “that’s why it feels so familiar. I’ve been to a few different places like this one if what I’ve heard is correct.” He brings his hands back around in front of him, and looks at each of us in turn. “I must say, the four of you make for quite an interesting group.”  
“Would you care to elaborate on that statement?” Valerica asks patiently.  
Gaunter gives her a nod. “Of course.” He motions to Serana and Valerica. “The two of you would make higher vampires, and mages alike jealous.”  
Serana and Valerica don’t react in any noticeable way to his words.  
O’Dimm motions to Svar. “A mortal woman without a soul who is also an immortal dragon. Although I would wager you are able to reacquire your soul. Not like that last fellow who brought me here.”  
Svar’s eyes widen for a moment, but she schools her features quickly.  
O’Dimm turns to me last. “And you.”  
His eyes seem to shine as he studies me. “Well, well… you are very interesting.”  
This can’t be fucking good.  
O’Dimm strolls over to me, and he leans in to get a better look.  
Please no eye spoon! Please no eye spoon! Please no eye spoon! Please no eye spoo…  
“You are unique.” He says contemplatively. “I can’t quite say what it is about you that’s so intriguing, and that on it’s own is intriguing.” His smile is wide and bright as he speaks.  
Valerica throws a short glance my way before she returns her full attention to O’Dimm. “I apologize Master O’Dimm, but…”   
O’Dimm shakes his head. “Please dear woman, call me Gaunter.”  
Valerica gives a thankful nod. “Gaunter, I apologize, but while you gave us your name, you neglected to mention what you are. Would you be willing to share what manner of being you are?”  
I hold back a wince as she asks the question.  
O’Dimm smiles at her. “Why, I’m nothing more than a simple merchant of mirrors madam.”   
He turns away from her, obviously not willing to say more, and his gaze pans over the stone walls lining the room. “This place is rather dreary wouldn’t you say?” He says after a moment. “There are so few bright colors. It’s all purple, black, and grey.” He scratches his chin, before he quickly shakes his head. “Oh, but you didn’t bring me here to talk about the local scenery did you? Let’s address the dragon in the room shall we?” He looks pointedly at Valerica as he finishes the statement with a smile.  
How the hell did he… he’s Gaunter O’fucking-Dimm that’s how.  
Valerica’s eyes narrow. “You know why we brought you here then?”  
He chuckles. “Good woman, I make a habit of knowing what trouble I’m getting into before I entrench myself too deep within it. You practically screamed your intent as I was crossing through the planes. Though, I will tell you right now, I’ve never done dealings with these ‘Ideal Masters’ you mentioned. So, you’ll have to make it worth my while.” His cheerful grin turns predatory. “If my assumption is correct, these beings deal in souls, and I am quite fond of the ones I possess. Why should I help you?”  
The air seems to get much heavier, and our surroundings fall deathly silent.  
I swallow a lump in my throat.   
I think it’s safe to say he just left fun mode. We’re so fucking dead.  
“We have items we believe will be of interest to you.” Serana says, speaking up for the first time. “Do you know of Elder Scrolls?”  
O’Dimm turns his grin upon her. “I do. I’ve seen them up close even. The first time I was summoned to this little collection of worlds, an upstart mage attempted to seal me away with one of them. I take it you are offering one of these little trinkets as payment?”  
Serana turns to me, causing the entire room to follow her gaze.  
My gaze is fixed on Gaunter though.  
If I pull one of these things out, we have no guarantee he won’t just kill us all and take it off my corpse.  
I look at Gaunter, and nod. “We have an Elder Scroll, as well as a few other things we’d be willing to trade.”  
The oppressiveness in the air fades, and O’Dimm regards me with a grin.  
“So,” He begins. “you want me to barter with the Ideal Masters and take over your dragonic friends contract?”  
“No.” Valerica says quickly. “We want you to barter with the Ideal Masters to take Durnehviir’s contract from them, and then immediately free him from said contract. We also need him restored so he may leave this place.” She glares as she finishes her statement.  
O’Dimm gives her a grin. “You can’t blame a man for trying.” He brings a hand to his chin, and thinks for a moment. “I possess few goods these Masters would be interested in trading for the dragon, and I am hesitant to part with them. They are quite valuable, and more useful to me than an Elder Scroll.”  
“What if we offered you two?” Svar asks. Until now, she has done nothing but study the man  
He raises an eyebrow at her. “I would need all three on the table in order to continue negotiations.”  
I hear Valerica exhale slowly, and see Svar tense.  
This guy really likes to lord things over people doesn’t he?  
“Say we trade you all three,” I start. “would you then be willing to free Durnehviir, and restore him?”  
He makes a show of scratching his chin, and shakes his head. “No, it’s not quite enough.”  
Serana goes to speak, but Gaunter interrupts her.   
“Don’t bother speaking of the Staff.” He says. “I’m not interested in it. While it is a powerful artifact, it is… incompatible with me. I would need something else.”  
Incompatible? What the fuck does that mean?  
“What would you want in place of the Staff?” Svar asks carefully.  
He considers for a moment, then speaks. “Oh, nothing too costly.” He slowly turns to me, and a grin grows on his features. “A mere favor would suffice.”  
Fuck.  
Fuck fuck.  
Fuckity fucking fuck sticks.  
“What sort of favor?” Serana asks suspiciously.  
O’Dimm shrugs. “The sort that is, as yet, unnamed. To be utilized at a moment of my choosing.”  
“So you want three Elder Scrolls, and a favor from us?” Svar asks. “A favor that is likely to get us killed.”  
O’Dimm shakes his head. “I assure you, I will not ask something that is outside your capabilities, and I’m not asking for a favor from all of you. Just one of you.” He turns to me with a hungry gaze.  
I am so dead.  
“There has to be something else you are interested in.” Serana insists.   
“I’m afraid not.” O’Dimm says to her without looking away from me.   
Svar growls, and starts towards him. “I’m not going to let you…”  
O’Dimm claps his hands together, and Svar stops talking.  
I look over at her and see her frozen mid stride. Glaring at O’Dimm.  
Fuck.  
I turn back to O’Dimm, and find him smiling at me.  
“Since you are the only one of your group who needs to agree to this arrangement, I’ve decided to give us some privacy. Now, as I told the lovely dragon, I will not ask anything of you that you will be unable to accomplish. If I did, it would be a waste of a favor. Further, you will have some time to prepare before I require anything of you.” He walks towards me slowly, and looks me in the eyes. “Do we have a deal?” He asks.  
Heh, fuck no.  
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t trust you right now.” I say as politely as I can. “You’ve just isolated me from the only two members of my group who had prepared for this eventuality, and you’re offering to make a binding deal with me without telling me what happens if I fail to comply. I need more details, and a lot of insurance, before I’ll agree to anything.”  
O’Dimm’s grin changes to a frown for a moment, before he starts chuckling. “The paranoid ones are always so fun to play with. Very well.” He says, and throws his arms wide. “What would you ask of me?”  
“For starters, what happens if I fail to deliver the ‘favor’?”  
“Why I get your soul of course, but you needn’t worry. As I’ve stated multiple times, the task will be within your power to complete.”  
I rely heavily on Gamer’s Mind as I narrow my eyes at him. “How do I know I’m not signing up to kill one of my companions? If I give you an open-ended favor, you could make me do anything. I’m not willing to take the chance you’ll use me against people I care about.”  
O’Dimm nods understandingly. “A valid concern, but I assure you, I will have you act in my interests which should be far removed from your own. If, however, you find yourself in a situation where you are forced to choose between your mission and your loved ones, you may choose your loved ones. But…” His eyes narrow, and the crushing feeling from earlier returns. “This is not a loophole for you to exploit. I am offering you this because you have been most gracious. That, and of your companions, you are the only one who understands what I am capable of. I do not believe you would try to take me for a fool. Do not prove me wrong.”  
I swallow heavily, and nod.  
The air returns to normal, and O’Dimm gives me a bright smile.  
“Good.” He says. “Now, are you willing to accept my terms?”  
“How long will the favor last?” I ask. “I don’t want to find out I’ve agreed to be your butler for the rest of time.”  
O’Dimm sighs slightly. “As amusing as this is, it is beginning to become insulting.” He gives me a very unimpressed look. “I have existed longer than many worlds Dusk, and I have been making bargains that entire time. Do you truly believe I would be unable to manipulate this particular deal to suit my own needs if that was my intent? Wording can only protect you from so much after all.”  
Great. I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t.  
He just flat out told me he can do whatever the hell he wants, and I’m screwed either way.  
Or maybe that was reverse psychology?  
Doesn’t matter. I’m screwed either way.  
“How can I be sure you’ll be able to get Durnehviir’s contract from the Ideal Masters?” I ask.  
O’Dimm smiles, and reaches into his satchel. He rummages around for a moment, before he pulls out a large piece of parchment. “You mean this?” He asks jovially as he holds the paper out for me to read.  
Protect the soul cairn…   
Defend Valerica…  
Contract will become null upon the death of Valerica…  
Signed in dovahzul…   
Holy shit.  
I look back to O’Dimm with wide eyes. “How long have you had that?”  
He shrugs, and begins rolling the paper up. “Did I not say I prefer to know what I’m getting myself into? I made some minor preparations before allowing you to bring me here.”  
Gamer’s Mind has to be working overtime right now. There’s no other way I can be calm after thinking over the implications of that.  
He somehow figured out what we wanted, bargained with the Ideal Masters, got what he wanted from the Ideal Masters, and then brought it with him when he allowed us to summon him. He either had to know about this entire meeting beforehand, or he did all of that during the minute or so the summoning took.  
“Have you been messing with us this entire time?” I ask.  
He gives me another bright smile. “That would be telling Dusk. Getting back to business, do we have an agreement? Your favor will take no longer than a month, it will not involve hurting those you care for, and it will be a task that is within your capabilities.”  
If he’s gone to this much trouble to prepare for this meeting, he’s got something important planned. Which I’ll screw up if I say no. Which will probably result in four spoons going into people’s eyes.  
I take a deep breath, and look O’Dimm in the eyes. “Fine.” I say.  
Somehow, his face lights up even brighter. “Wonderful!” He yells. He walks up to me, and holds out his hand. “The Scrolls please?” He says.  
I pull them out one at a time, and hand them over. As I’m handing the final Scroll over, he grabs my hand, and doesn’t let go.  
He casually reaches into his satchel with his free hand, and pulls out the small hand mirror we used in the ritual. He takes my left hand and presses the hand mirror down onto the back of it.  
I bite back a scream as the mirror lights on fire, and sears my flesh.  
O’Dimm pulls the mirror away, and I immediately grab my hand.  
There’s now a circular brand from the edges of the mirror, with the letters ‘G’ and ‘D’ in the center.  
Why the fuck did I agree to that?  
“Done!” O’Dimm says with a smile. He looks back at Svar, and tilts his head slightly. “I’ll let you explain our little deal to Svarline. She might try to eat me if I do it. I’ll go and fix your other dragon up, then be on my way.”   
He begins walking towards the exit, but stops and turns around. “Oh, and be more creative with that sword of yours. I’d hate to have to retrieve you because you failed to transport yourself. Until next we meet!” He claps his hands once more, and disappears.  
“...enslave my…” Svar looks around in confusion. “Where’d he go?”  
“He’s fixing up Durnehviir.” I say as the events of the last few minutes of stopped time sink in.  
“What?” Valerica asks. “What do you mean?”  
“Deals done.” I say, before narrowing my eyes at her. “And you fucking owe me.”  
“What did you do?” Serana asks as she slowly walks towards me. “What did you just do Dusk?”  
I give a self-depreciating chuckle. “I made a deal with the devil.” I hold up my hand and show the three of them my new brand. “I owe him a favor now.”  
I hear a growl just as Sixth Sense triggers.  
I don’t move, and take a full power punch from Svar.  
“Are you stupid?!” She screams. “Do you have any idea what you just did?!”  
“Yes to both.” I say. “I told you guys I know who this guy is. He’s terrifying, but he keeps his word so long as you don’t try to screw him over. I have no intention of trying to screw him over, so I’d give myself fifty-fifty odds. Pretty damn good considering we could’ve gotten Cthuhlu.”  
Sixth sense triggers again, and once more I stand still.  
This time, I receive a full powered slap from Serana, and stagger back a few steps.  
“That was stupid.” She says simply. “If you get yourself killed, I will soul trap you just so I can kill you again.”  
Wonderful. Now I have Molag Bal, the Soul Cairn, and Gaunter O’Dimm to look forward to when I die.  
Fan-fucking-tastic.  
“Let’s just get Durnehviir and get out of here.” I say tiredly. “I’m done with this place.”  
I begin walking from the room, when I catch sight of Valerica. She hasn’t moved since O’Dimm left, and she’s staring at me with an expression I can’t decipher.  
“You coming?” I ask. “That was kind of the whole purpose of this shitshow. We free your friend, you leave with us. Remember?”  
Valerica shakes her head, and schools her features. “Thank you. I will remember this” She says.  
Huh, that actually sounded genuine.  
The four of us walk through the halls of the castle until we reach the outside once more.  
A mighty roar draws our gazes as a massive golden and black scaled dragon comes in for a landing.  
Guess GoD did his part. Now I just need to wait until he comes to collect.  
Why the hell did I agree to this?  
“Durnehviir.” Valerica says quietly. “I can hardly recognize you old friend.”   
The dragon bares his large teeth in a smile. “I feel as if I’m only a millenia old again!” He reigns in his celebration, and turns to the four of us. “Thank you. Thank you all. I will never be able to repay you for the freedom you have given me, but I will never cease my attempts to do so.”  
I nod to him. “I’m glad you’re free.”  
Serana turns to her mother. “May we leave now?” She asks terse.  
Valerica quickly nods. “Give me a moment to gather anything of use from the keep, and then we will go.” She turns around, and strides back into the castle.  
I raise an eyebrow at Serana when she makes no move to follow Valerica. “You’re not going to help your mom pack?” I ask.  
Serana shakes her head. “My mother is able to be out of my sight for extended periods of time without consorting with abstract entities.”  
I give her a deadpan stare. “Ok, let's say our roles were flipped and you just watched the guy casually stop time, but in a way that lets him keep talking to you. Do you antagonize the extremely powerful whatever the hell he is, or do you take the deal and potentially save everyone’s lives?”  
“She never said you made the wrong choice.” Svar speaks up. “She’s just saying it was a stupid decision.”  
I raise my other eyebrow at her. “What contrived logic are you operating on here?”  
Svar shrugs. “You did the least stupid thing. That doesn’t mean we can’t worry about you.”  
I don’t really have a response for that.  
Around half an hour later Valerica emerges from the castle with several satchels, and a large backpack.  
“Let us leave this dreadful place.” She says firmly.  
None of us need to be told twice.  
The trip back takes all of two minutes. One minute and forty-five seconds of which were spent waiting for Durnehviir to catch up because he couldn’t fit through Serana’s portal.  
“The portal room is pretty large,” I say up to the dragon. “but by dragon standards it’s probably going to be cramped. Do you have a way to teleport outside?”  
The great dragon chuckles. “Do not worry. I am able to look after myself.”  
Man, even his voice sounds better. It’s like he just recovered from a month’s worth of pneumonia.   
The five of us make our way through the portal, and a short pulling sensation later, we’re standing back in Sky Haven.

Quest Complete!  
[The Soul Cairn!]  
You have managed to obtain access to the Soul Cairn!  
Objective- Free Valerica from the Ideal Masters(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Kill the Keepers before speaking with Valerica(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Free Arvak(Failed)  
Bonus Objective- Kill the Reaper(Failed)  
Bonus Objective- Free Durnehviir(Completed)  
Rewards- [Soul Cairn Immunity], Gacha Coins x2  
Bonus Rewards- Necromancy Affinity, Gem of Empowering, Gacha Coins x2

New Perk Gained!  
Soul Cairn Immunity  
Having traversed the Soul Cairn and come through unscathed, you have grown immune to its corruptive effects. This perk also negates similar negative effects of similar places.

Necromancy Affinity Gained!  
You are at the level of a novice, but have the potential to grow to unprecedented heights.

Gem of Empowering  
One time use item that permanently increases the power/skill of the user.(Must be below level 75 to use)

Level up x63  
Gained 630 Stat points!

For reaching 900 STR you have gained a perk!  
Generalist  
You know the basics of how to use any melee weapon

For reaching 1000 STR you have gained a perk!  
Pinnacle  
All melee attacks are 30% stronger  
You will receive no more perks for your STR stat

Flaw [Martially Inept] lost for reaching STR 1100

For reaching 900 END you have gained a perk!  
Death’s Door  
The lower your health, the less damage you take. 

For reaching 1000 END you have gained a perk!  
Wolverine  
You can regenerate from almost anything. No damage can halt your HP regen.  
You will receive no more perks for your END stat

Flaw [You Smell Good] lost for reaching END 1100

For reaching 800 DEX you have gained a perk!  
One With Shadows  
You are able to meld with and travel through shadows

For reaching 900 DEX you have gained a perk!  
Contortions  
You are more flexible than the world’s greatest gymnast.

For reaching 1000 DEX you have gained a perk!  
Quicksilver  
You may move at unprecedented speeds. The human eye will be unable to follow your movements. Can only be used for a short time.  
You will gain no more perks for your DEX stat

Abjuration Mastery Gained!  
Protection and defensive magics are yours to shape. Create your own!

[You have maxed out Abjurer!]  
[Please select a new primary class!]  
[Mage/Warrior/Thief]

Mage. I want to see what the more advanced magic classes are like, so I need to get one more regular one out of the way.

[Please select a specialization!]  
[Elementalist/Illusionist/Conjurer/Necromancer/Diviner]

Eh, I need more versatility. Let’s go with illusionist.

[Class] (Illusionist) - LVL 16/100  
Gain 5 INT, 5 WIS, and 2 CHA per Level

[Minor Illusion]  
Costs 20 MP  
Create an small illusory image or sound

[Phantom Pain]  
Costs 50 MP  
Target will believe themself to have suffered a horrendous wound

[Disguise Self]   
Costs 40 MP  
Change your appearance to that of any other humanoid.

Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 314  
Class- Abjurer - LVL 100/100 06%]  
Crafting Class- N/A [0%]  
Race- Vampire Lord  
Tier- Immortal  
Alignment- True Neutral  
HP- 22020 [13212 per minute]  
MP- 29600 [22200 per minute]  
SP- 22020 [13212 per minute]  
STR- 1174  
END- 1101  
DEX - 1000  
INT - 1561  
WIS - 1561  
CHA - 682  
LUK - 654  
MP Regen= WIS x 15  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 12  
SP/HP= END x 20

Yay. We’re back.  
I don’t feel as enthusiastic about that as I expected. It may or may not have something to do with the mark on my hand. I’m not quite sure.  
Oh, I forgot about Arvak.   
Eh, I can free him later. Besides, I can fly and run at the speed of lightning. I don’t really need a horse that much.  
I look around the group, and see Durnehviir missing.  
Uh, what?  
“Does anyone know where Durnheviir is?” I ask.  
“He’s moving that way.” Svar says, and points at a wall. “He phased through the stone the moment we got back, so I’m guessing he’s eager to see the sky again.”  
Svar turns to me. “Can I get my soul back now? I’m getting kinda sick of sucking at everything.”  
Serana nods. “Yes. We should see to that immediately.” She leaves the room, and the rest of us follow her.  
We wind through the hallways, until we come to the room where Svar ripped her soul out.  
A cheerful bark greets us as we get closer.  
I allow myself a smile as I look into the room.  
Mr. Rogers is sitting a few feet from Svar’s soul and wagging his tail side to side.  
“Hey boy.” I say as I enter.   
He pants happily, and runs over to me.  
“You possess a peculiar familiar.” Valerica comments as I scratch my ghost dog behind the ears.  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “I’m going to assume that wasn’t an insult to my dog.”  
She shakes her head. “It was no insult. I was merely making an observation. I have never seen anything quite like him.”  
I smile, and turn back to Mr. Rogers. “That’s because he’s one of a kind.”  
“Not to interrupt,” Svar cuts in. “but I don’t know how to get my soul back, so could we focus on that for the time being.”  
I give Mr. Rogers one last pat on the head, and stand up.  
“Like I said before,” I begin. “we essentially just shove it back in. You’ll probably want to sleep for a while afterwards, but other than that there shouldn’t be any negative effects. If there are, tell us as soon as you notice them.”  
Svar nods. “I will, now let's get this done.”  
Serana and I move to either side of Svar.  
Valerica goes to assist, but Svar stops her. “No offense lady, but I don’t know you. I’d prefer it if you weren’t molding my very being.”  
Valerica nods. “Understandable, I will simply watch to ensure nothing goes wrong.” She takes a step back to give us some room.  
Serana and I nod at one another, and start working our soul magic. The golden tendrils that make up the body of Svar’s soul begin to unwind, then they slowly drift apart, and move towards Svar. The ribbons gently wrap around her body, and it's as if her skin absorbs them.  
The rest of the ribbons move around her, and form a golden spiral that looks similar to a tornado. The ribbons spin around her for a moment as her skin absorbs them, and pretty soon the golden glow subsides as Svar’s soul returns to her body.  
“That felt fantastic.” Svar says in a daze. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I suddenly feel the need to sleep for a year.” She starts towards the door, but stops at the threshold. She turns back around, and tosses Yamato to me.  
I have a brief panic attack as the all cutting sword flies through the air, but I’m able to catch it without issue.  
“Thanks for letting me borrow that.” Svar says.  
I nod, and hand Ascalon to her. “No problem.”  
Svar yawns, then leaves without another word.  
I check her over with my soul magic as she leaves, and find no issues. She’s back to full strength.  
I turn back to Serana and say, “Go ahead and show your mom around. I’m going to go wrap my head around everything that just happened.”  
“Are you alright?” Serana asks, concerned.  
I nod. “I’ll be fine. I’ve just got to think some stuff over.”  
She looks like she wants to know more, but restrains herself.  
“If you need anything, talk to me.” She says seriously.  
“I will.” I say, and turn to leave.  
“Dusk, wait.”  
I turn back around and find Valerica walking towards me.  
She looks into my eyes, and says, “Thank you for what you have done. You are correct. I owe you, and I am unsure if I will be able to repay that debt. If you have anything you wish to ask of me, you need not hesitate.”  
I regard her for a moment, then nod. “Thanks.”  
I leave the room.  
I take a bunch of random turns through various hallways, before entering a random room. I see a chair in the corner of it, and sit down.  
I let out a long sigh, and look at the back of my hand.  
I made a deal with Gaunter O’Dimm.  
What in the ever loving fuck was I thinking?  
Actually, to be fair to myself here, I wasn’t thinking. Not about the consequences anyway. I was more focused on the fact that the bastard just casually stopped time in the Soul Cairn.   
I knew he could stop time, but how the hell did he pull it off in a realm controlled by the Ideal Masters? Maybe that was part of whatever deal he made with them before he showed up?  
Oh shit, I totally forgot about that.  
The asshole may as well be the damn Simurgh for how well that plan went. He not only knew what we wanted, but he already had it when we called him.  
I let out another sigh, and lean back in my chair.  
We’re all alive, so I’m going to count this as a draw. It sure as hell isn’t a win, but things could have gone a lot worse.  
I think that’s the main reason I folded so quickly. The guy had us all hostage, and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about it.   
The best I could do was give him what he wanted in a way that still benefited us. I’m not too happy about owing him a favor, but Durnehviir’s free, so we’ve got that going for us at least.  
Plus, in the game he was a perfect gentleman so long as Geralt doesn’t do anything to piss him off.  
I just have to do what I said I’d do, and not bother trying to save Olgierd’s soul. Or whatever my equivalent of that is anyway.  
All in all, this sucks, but it could be a lot worse. I’ll deal with O’Dimm when it’s time to worry about O’Dimm, and focus on getting stronger in the interim.   
Speaking of which…   
I smile as I activate Felix Felicis.  
Been some time since I got any Gacha Coins.

The Bat Signal  
Rare Item  
Use this modified searchlight to let Batman know he’s needed.  
(The Batman must be able to see the signal, and is not required to answer your call)

How is this in any way useful?  
Even if I was on the right plane of existence, which I’m assuredly not, I wouldn’t get any use out of this thing. Sure, Batman is a genius, but why the hell would he help me with anything?  
From his perspective, I’m an evil vampire. I’ve killed people, and eaten people now that I think about it. That’s not something he could wrap his head around.  
DC is weird. ‘This psycho has killed continents worth of people, but if we put them down we would be just like them!’  
I could never understand that logic.  
Anyway, batman rant over. Back to the gacha.  
Give me something that’s actually useful please.

A Soggy Boot  
Common Item  
This boot was pulled from the bottom of a lake when a fishing hook got caught on it.   
It is advised you wash your hands after handling this boot.

I let out a long sigh.  
Yep. I’ve got Gacha Coins again. A glorified searchlight, and a potential biohazard.   
I wonder if this thing could spread the bubonic plague through Tamriel? It would be interesting to see how a magical civilization deals with that.   
Of course, I’m not a psychopath, so I’m not going to do that. It’s an interesting thought experiment though.  
I’m just gonna hurry up and waste the next two so I can go to sleep.

Revan’s Lightsaber  
Mythic Item  
This purple bladed lightsaber has been at Revan’s side for years. This weapon has seen wars from their beginning to their end, and taken many lives.   
Deals STR + 20 Plasma Damage per strike  
Is a lightsaber, and possesses all properties associated with such

I growl in irritation as I pull the thing from my inventory.  
If I get one more toy I swear to… this thing’s heavy.  
Forcing down any hope, I hesitantly press a small circular button near the top of the hilt.  
*Pssshhew*  
A brilliant, violet glow lights up the room around me.  
I stare at the beam with a gaping jaw, then slowly start to smile. In a few moments I’m laughing like a maniac.  
FUCK. YES!  
If I get a literal pile of shit with my next coin, I’ll still be happy with how this turned out.  
I got a freaking lightsaber. Reven’s lightsaber.  
I take a deep breath, and deactivate the blade before putting it in my inventory.  
I can’t keep the grin off my face as I use my next coin.

The Light of Earendil  
Mythic Item  
This phial contains water that has captured the light of the star Earendil.   
Has a wide variety of uses.

My grin grows even wider as I pull out the small bottle.  
Holy shit. I just got two incredibly powerful items at the same time.  
I hold the little white bottle up, and inspect it.   
The liquid inside glows faintly, and the bottle itself is beautiful. It has the elegance of something crafted by the elves. Lord of the Rings elves, not the racist snobs that exist in this universe.  
The bottle is… comforting. Not in an obsessive way. It’s just nice to hold.  
Wow. I suddenly feel a lot better about the whole soul deal with O’Dimm.  
I place the bottle back in my inventory, and stand up.  
I feel really good right now. I’m going to take advantage of the clearheadedness to go to sleep.  
I exit the room, and walk back towards our room.  
I enter, and find Svar asleep on the bed.   
I smile and lie down next to her.  
O’Dimm’s a problem, but we can handle it. In another month I’ll have vizier available again, and I can use it to ask for advice.  
We can figure this out.  
I close my eyes, and drift off to sleep.

I wake up and find Svar gone.  
I must have slept longer than I meant to if she’s already up and about.  
I stand up, stretch out a little, and leave the room.  
No longer having to worry about information overload, I call on my soul magic and begin looking around the Temple to see where everyone is.   
Svar’s up at the top of the mountain with Paarthurnax, and another extremely powerful being. Must be Durnehviir.   
Serana and Valerica are standing next to each other as they both inspect something on a table.  
This should be interesting.  
I walk towards Serana and Valerica.  
I arrive at the room they’re in, and walk in.  
“Hello Dusk.” Serana says without turning around. “How are you feeling?”  
“I’m alright.” I walk up next to them.  
There’s a small lead box on the table in front of them that they are both studying intently.  
I raise an eyebrow at Serana. “What are you guys up to?”  
“We are determining whether or not this item is safe to utilize.” Valerica answers.  
Item?  
I look back at the box, and gauge its size.  
Wait…   
“Is the Orb of Death in there?” I ask.  
Serana nods. “Yes. While we cannot determine if it means us harm, there is a power to it. If we could find a way to control it, It would be a great boon.”  
Serana turns to look at me. “You know the most about it. Would you mind sharing your opinion?”  
I stop to think for a moment. “Well, my knowledge is kind of limited when it comes to this thing, but I’ll tell you what I do know.  
Serana nods for me to continue.  
I think for a second, then speak. “I know it's useful to necromancers, and that it devours souls of the slain. The one guy I know of who actually used the thing was a crap mage, but with the orb he was able to raise two skeletal dragons.”  
Serana’s eyes light up. “He was able to summon two of those creatures?”  
I shake my head before she can get too excited. “They were different from the one we fought. They were immune to weaker magic, but didn’t regenerate like the one in Labyrinthian did.”  
Valerica raises an eyebrow at Serana. “I thought you said you faced only one dragon.”  
Serana shrugs and turns back to the table. “One living one. The skeletal dragon was simple to defeat once we found the soul stone.”  
“Soul stone?” Valerica asks. Seemingly excited.  
Serana’s fangs become visible as she grins. “Yes. A soul stone that now holds the soul of a dragon priest.”  
Valerica’s eyes widen. “We have access to the Soul Cairn.”  
Serana nods. “Yes, we do. However, we have plenty of time. I would like to decide what to do with this orb before we get lost in that project.”  
Valerica nods in agreement, and turns back to the table. “Is there anything else you can tell us about this orb Dusk?”  
I nod. “There was one other guy I know of who held the thing. The moment he picked it up, the orb began to worship the ground he walked on. If the guy had told the orb to eat itself, it probably would have done it. Though, it’s important to mention that he was a master necromancer. One that could probably best everyone in this Temple given enough preparation time.”  
Serana raises an eyebrow. “You would not make such a statement lightly.” She remarks.  
“No I wouldn’t. The guy killed nearly one-hundred-thousand people with a single spell. A spell which was really a summoning spell. The people killed were the offering. He was able to call five of Shub-Niggurath’s children to fight for him, and those goats proceeded to dismantle any and all resistance in their path. The guy was also the apex necromancer race. He was, what is referred to in his world as, an Overlord. Think an ultra powerful lich that’s magnitudes stronger than a normal lich.”   
“So the orb admires strength?” Valerica asks after I finish my lore dump.  
I nod. “When I first brought it through, it was impressed with me, and I wasn’t even a necromancer at the time.”  
Serana tilts her head. “‘At the time’? I was not aware you were one now.”  
I give her a grin. “Benefits of travelling through the Soul Cairn.”  
Serana hums, and looks me over. “We will see the depth of your ability later.” She turns back to the box. “While we are not as powerful as this Overlord you mentioned, my mother and I are among some of the strongest necromancers in history. Do you believe the orb will serve one of us?”  
I shrug. “I don’t know. It might, but it also might say one thing, and do another. I’d say it’s probably best if Valerica tries it, because unless you’ve hidden it from us, you’re not telepathic.”  
Serana shakes her head. “I am not. Each vampire gains different powers upon their turning. Abilities that, more often than not, they inherit from their sire. Since the two of us did not have sires, our abilities are vastly different from one-another.”  
“Then I would recommend Valerica be the one to try it.” I say. “She’ll probably have a better idea of what it’s attempting.”  
Serana nods. “Very well. Mother, if you are ready?”  
Valerica nods, and Serana channels magic into the box.  
I feel a ward break, and the box opens.  
Valerica reaches her hand in, and picks up the orb.  
Serana and I tense, as Valerica stares at the orb.  
Valerica lets out a short laugh, and turns to us. “We have reached an agreement. It is mine to do with as I please.”  
Serana and I allow ourselves to relax.  
“Just be sure to be careful mother.” Serana says.  
Valerica nods. “I will.” She places the orb within her robe somewhere, then turns to Serana. “Now daughter, I believe you mentioned having the soul of a dragon priest…”  
Serana smiles widely. She walks over and gives me a kiss. “If you need us, we will be in the portal room.”  
Her and her mother exit the room.   
That was a mad scientist smile she just had. Should I be worried?  
Nah. She’s on my side. It’s the rest of Tamriel that should be scared.  
I walk back through the halls, and start to head up the mountain.  
I reach the top and walk outside.  
It’s a pretty nice day so I have to have my hood up, but it's not too inconvenient.  
I look up to the sky, and see two dragons shouting at each other.  
Why the hell are they fighting?  
Both turn their heads in the same direction, and let loose a stream of fire in the same direction. A blue glow emanates from the direction the dragons fired in, and the flames pass through a flying ghost.  
Oh, they’re training Svar.  
I chuckle to myself.  
That could have been really bad.  
The three don’t notice me, so I just sit down and watch the fireworks for a while.  
Svar is looking really good.   
I’ll still need to keep an eye on her, but at the moment it doesn’t appear as if there’s any lasting side effects from our jaunt to the Soul Cairn.  
I smile, and lean back against the stone wall.  
We’ve got a large to do list, but we’ll get everything done. When Alduin comes knocking, Serana and I will have Svar’s back. When Harkon shows up, Svar and I will have Serana’s. And when O’Dimm decides it’s time to collect, Svar and Serana will have mine.  
We’ve got this.

(Interlude: Elisif)

“How is she?” I ask Savos as he exits the room.  
The old elf turns to me with a weary look upon his face. “She will live. I do not know when she will wake, but the danger has passed. Sybille saved her life.”  
I sigh in relief. “And what of Sybille?” I ask hesitantly.  
The elf shakes his head. “I do not believe she has dealt with what has happened. In time, she will recover, but it will be a long road. Longer even than Mirabelle’s.”  
“Can you help her at all?” I plead.  
He sighs. “I have already ordered what artificers the College has to get to work on replacements, but they won’t be the same. Especially to a vampire.”  
“May I see them?” I ask.  
The elf regards me for a moment before he sighs. “Do not stay long.” He disappears with a flash of green light.  
I walk to the door, and knock gently. “Sybille?”  
There is no answer.  
I open the door and walk inside.   
There are two beds set up in the small closet.   
On one, Mirabelle lies. Her stomach is wrapped in bandages that have been soaked through with blood, and her neck is in a brace. Her eyes are closed, and she doesn’t respond to my entrance in any way.  
On the second bed, Sybille sits. Her red eyes find me as soon as I enter.  
“Did we win?” She asks seriously.  
I nod. “Potema has pulled all of her forces back.”  
My court wizard nods. “Good.”  
“Are you alright?” I ask.  
She barks out a laugh. “Have you seen me?” She motions to her missing arm and leg. “Movarth tore me apart. If Mirabelle hadn’t stepped in to help, I’d be dead.”  
“Savos told me his artificers are working to make you prosthetics.”   
She raises an eyebrow at me. “Will they have vampiric speed and reaction times?”  
I shake my head. “He didn’t say.”  
She smiles at me. “I’ll be fine Elisif. I’m screwed up right now, but I’ll figure something out. Tell Savos to save those for the soldiers.”  
Her genuine cheer surprises me.  
“How can you be so relaxed about this?” I ask.  
Her smile fades slightly, and she looks up at the ceiling. “There were some injured guards down there with us. I told them to stay behind us. To only engage anything that made it through us. Had they listened, Mirabelle and I would be dead. Movarth was the greatest swordsman I have ever faced. When I tried to compensate with my magic, he simply rushed me to close the gap. Mirabelle had to stop firing into the hole in the wall to help me.”  
She shuffles slightly. “The guards rushed past me to hold the wall with our elementals. It took both Mirabelle and I to fight Movarth, and I think those guards knew it. About the time I lost my arm all the guards and the elementals were dead. That should’ve been the end of it, but Savos showed up with his troops. He can tell you the rest.”  
She looks back at me. “The way I see it, I can either bitch and moan about how I don’t have a leg while half the city is mourning our losses, or I can get over it. I might not be the greatest mage in the world, but I’m pretty strong. I’ve read several documents about various ways mages were able to replace limbs. I’ll figure it out.”  
I look to the other bed. “What about Mirabelle? Do you think she’ll be alright?”  
Sybille laughs. “She’ll be fine. It will take her some time to adjust to staying inside during the day, but I wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t asked. Nor would I have done it if I thought she couldn’t handle it. She’ll be fine. And hey, now she’ll live as long as Savos.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.  
I allow myself a smile. “I don’t believe the elf sees her that way.”  
Sybille waves her remaining arm at me. “A hundred years is a long time for that to change.”  
I allow myself a small chuckle. “I am glad you are recovering Sybille, but I am needed elsewhere. If you need anything, you need only ask.”  
As I’m walking from the room, Sybille stops me.  
“Hey.” She says. “If you’re serious about that, do me a favor and put that bastard’s head on a pike. It’ll really pretty up the ramparts.”  
I nod to her. “I’ll make sure it gets done.”  
“Good, now go play politics.” She waves me away. “I did my job, it’s your turn now.” She lays down in the bed, and closes her eyes.  
I close the door behind me, and take a deep breath.  
I make my way to the war room with my political bearing back in place.  
I have a job to do.

(Interlude: Potema)

  
I pace back and forth in front of the metal cage as the beast within thrashes about.  
She has nearly served her full week’s sentence, but I’m not sure whether or not I’m satisfied.  
I stop, and study the cage and its surroundings.  
The metal bars are welded very close together. They make it impossible to sit down, and nearly impossible to even turn around in the cramped space.   
The cage itself is located within a small alcove within the hut I currently stand in. The alcove is without a roof, allowing the sun to shine uninhibited on the cage and its occupant. The cage is surrounded on all sides by fresh corpses with their throats cut open. The smell of blood is saturating the air.  
The woman within the cage has been stripped naked, and has week old cuts and lashes across her body that have not been allowed to heal.  
She has been starved, lashed, and left to burn in the sun for her entire stay in the torturer’s care. Blood has been all around her, but she has been unable to feed and therefore unable to heal.  
A being of a lesser mind would go mad from the experience.  
My Crone won’t.  
It truly does pain me to have done this to her, but she needed to learn. My previous approach did not work. If she will not submit willingly, I will force her to.   
Especially now that I am without my second general.  
Remembering the loss of Movarth causes me to growl.   
The city was mine. Had she not betrayed me, we would be planning our siege of Markarth. Instead, I was forced to flee to Morthal with only half of the forces I set out with.  
The number of undead in my ranks has increased tenfold, but that is only because several of my necromancers died. For every defender we killed and raised, they killed four of our own.  
“My Queen.”  
I turned around to find the scout I called for bowing before me.  
“You are the survivor of the expedition I sent west correct?”  
The vampire nods. “Yes my Queen. The others were slain by werewolves as you know.”  
“Where did you encounter the dogs?” I ask.  
“We were a few miles south of Karthwasten when the wolves attacked my Queen. I believe I know the area they were protecting.”  
I narrow my eyes. “Where?” I demand.  
“There was a large stretch of cleared land I believe to have recently been a camp of some sort. There was a large cave connected to the land that Nessa believed to hold something of importance, but we were unable to find anything.”  
I growl, and close the distance to the man. “Why did you not inform me of this the moment you returned?”  
The vampire trembles, and fixes his eyes on the ground. “General Movarth believed the information to be unimportant to the campaign my Queen. He ordered me not to waste your valuable time with such nonsense.”  
“Leave me.” I say.  
The man practically sprints from the hut.  
I sigh, and rub my forehead.  
Movarth, as capable as you were on the battlefield, you were an imbecile in other areas.  
I walk towards the cage, and break the lock holding it shut.  
The Crone attempts to lunge out, but I grab her by the throat and slam her back into the cage.  
The sun has long since set, so I need not worry about it scorching my arm.  
The Crone bashes my hand, and tears at my arm with her claws. I pay it no mind. She is weak after her stay in the cage.  
I lean forward, and grip her chin with my free hand. I force her to look me in the eyes. Blood starved she might be, but I know she is still in control. I wouldn’t have chosen her if this was enough to destroy her. “You. Are. Mine.” I growl. “I have tolerated your disobedience because I believed it to be amusing. No more. You will fall in line, or you will be disciplined. I am your Queen. I am your Goddess. Now, what is your name?”  
The woman convulses in my grip, as the near freedom taunts her. “I… am Crone.” She croaks.  
I smile. “Good girl.” I take my hand from her chin, and cut my neck.  
The Crone’s eyes snap to my wound, and I slowly pull her close.  
She latches her fangs upon my neck, and greedily drinks. I stop her before she takes too much, and throw her down to the corpses. She moves from body to body. Draining every drop that remains in the corpses.  
Minutes later, she is finally sated. The burns, cuts, and lashes begin to heal themselves, and she takes several deep breaths as she lays down on the ground.   
I slowly walk over to her, and kneel down. I begin to run my hand through her hair, causing her to look at me in confusion.  
“Do not force me to do that again Crone.” I say. “It brought me no pleasure.” I stand, and walk to the door. Over my shoulder, I say, “Clean yourself up, get dressed, then meet me in the castle’s war room. We have work to do.” I leave without another word.  
Our forces have been decimated, so we must acquire more.  
I smile widely.  
An army of undead werewolves certainly holds appeal… 

(Interlude: Farengar)

Useless! They’re all useless!  
How hard can it be to capture one woman?!  
I reach up and scratch under my eye patch as the irritation returns.  
The Blade is restored. Everything is in place, but I can’t find him. Something is blocking my magic, and the interference is somehow strong enough to block the sword’s power as well.  
A seer could fix this problem, but the old lady had to die to restore the blade. That leaves only that insufferable innkeep, but for some reason an entire company of soldiers can’t find her.

Patience Champion.  
The city is ours. The exits are blocked, and you have men going through every structure. You will find her soon enough.

She’s right. Irileth can’t hide her forever. I’ll find them, use them to find him, then I’ll kill them. The Sword may be at full strength once more, but that doesn’t mean it can’t get stronger.

Yes Champion.   
Kill all who once called you friend, and you will have power unrivaled.

Hmmm, I thought I’d killed everyone already. No, wait. Delphine got away. I wonder where the old blade ran to?

The seer can find her as well.

I smile.  
Perfect. I’ll kill her on my way to deal with him.  
I scratch my scars once more as a plan forms in my head.  
I let loose a laugh at its perfection.  
He is going to die. There’s no way to survive.  
Even if he has a dragon, no, even if he has two dragons he’ll die. There’s no possible way he’s strong enough to stop an Oblivion breach.  
The beautiful voice of my mistress laughs as she comprehends my plan.

Perfect my Champion! Absolutely perfect!  
Use my Blade! Open a path to this plane, and my armies will be yours to command!  
Together, we will spread across Tamriel in a plague that puts the Planemeld to shame!

I smile.  
It will be done my Lady.


	20. 20

I finish sharpening the sword in my hand, and place it back on the rack.  
And with that, I’m done.  
I stand up and make my way to the exit, so I can begin wandering the halls.  
It’s been a couple days, and to be honest, I have done a lot of nothing. I went through the other armories restoring stuff, but I did it at an extremely slow pace so I could relax.  
Svar’s been up with the dragons, and Serana and her mother have been poking at Morokei’s soul, so all three of them have been more productive than I have.  
Well, I have been productive. All the armories are now fully restored, and I used my new necromancy abilities to outfit the undead so I didn’t have to interrupt the mad science going on near the portal.  
It took a little trial and error, but controlling the undead that had already been told to listen to me was pretty simple. So I guess I did do something productive.  
Besides, I’ve earned a break. The last time I was really able to rest was before we started on the portal. I took a nap after it was done, but we went in right after that. Now that Valerica and Durnehviir are out we’ll have plenty of time to do whatever it is we decide to do.  
That’s actually a pretty important question. What’s next?  
We don’t really have a reliable way to track down Alduin, so that fight’ll have to be postponed until Vizier is back or we find another method to track hi… her. Still weird. Anyway, I’d rather fight her when we’ve all had a chance to grow in strength a little bit. She was a pushover in the game, but in the lore she’s a literal god. Little ‘g’, but god all the same. Going after her without being close to the equivalent ourselves is not a good idea.  
I don’t want to tangle with Harkon right now either. The man is practically neutralized at this point. There is no way in hell he’ll ever get the scrolls he needs, and without them he won’t know how to proceed. There’ll be nothing to point him to the bow, and no Daughter of Coldharbour for that snow elf prick to take advantage of. Unless Harkon finds us, he’s not a problem anymore.  
Miraak? Not even sure the guy’s active yet, so it’s probably best if we play that one by ear.  
Honestly the most pressing concern is probably Potema. I don’t know how much of a threat she poses, nor do I know how large her army is. Hell, I don’t even know if she’s still in Morthal. We’ve been pretty hands off of everything that wasn’t us, so she could have taken over the entire province and we might not have noticed. We’ve been too focused on portal construction to give much of a shit.  
She’s the main opponent we should focus on right now. Between Durnheviir, Serana, and Valerica we’ve got some pretty solid counters to her armies, but I don’t know how powerful she is. She’s probably got Movarth with her too, and I’m not sure of his strength either. He was meh in the game, but again, everything is scaled up here. I’m not willing to run the risk of underestimating him or her.  
I take a deep breath, and shake my head.  
I’m stressing myself out too much. We don’t need to fight Potema unless she finds us, which is pretty damn unlikely to happen. Her scouts returned unharmed, and we haven’t exactly advertised our presence. We’ll be fine.  
I’m on my way up to the top of the mountain, when a loud wailing screech sounds from the other direction.  
That can’t be good.  
I activate Godspeed, and run towards the source of the cry. I move through the halls until I come to the portal room, and am met with the sight of a freed Morokei floating above the portal.  
Oh shit.  
I hastily cast a ward over myself at the same time I rush forward with Yamato.  
Strangely, the dragon priest doesn’t move as I get closer.   
Not willing to waste the opportunity, I quickly bring Yamato up, and slash through the floating priest.  
The dragon priest floats there, unmoving, and takes the cut. His body bisects, before it slowly starts to knit itself back together.  
What the hell?  
“Your Dusk is most certainly quick to respond to what he perceives to be a threat.” A calm voice says from over my shoulder.  
I leapt back from Morokei, and threw a quick glance towards the voice.  
Valerica is standing there rather casually with her hands grasped in front of her. She’s studying my ward curiously.  
“In hindsight we should have informed the other inhabitants of the mountain we were finished.” Serana says as she walks over from the other side of the room. She walks over to me, and gives me an apologetic look. “I am sorry Dusk. The priest is under our control. We should have warned you we were finished, but in my excitement it slipped my mind.”  
I look between her and Morokei, before dropping my ward and putting Yamato back in my inventory. “Give me a heads up next time ya? Surprise dragon priests tend to make me kill first and ask questions never.”  
Serana nods. “I will.”  
Hesitating only a moment, I walk towards Morokei, and begin looking him over. “So how does this work exactly?”  
Serana’s face lights up in a mad scientist sort of way as she joins me next to the lich. “Where before he was only trapped within the Soul Stone, he is now fully bound to it. His will has been stripped away, leaving only his power. It is ours to direct however we see fit.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You tore his free will away?”  
“Such things are simple with enough knowledge and power.” Valerica says as she joins us. “I trust this is not an issue?”  
I snort as I turn to her. “If he weren’t an asshole? Maybe, but this guy is a dragon priest. You don’t become one of those by aiding your fellow man.”  
Valerica nods in what seems to be approval.  
I turn back to face the floating lich. “So he’s bound to the stone right?”   
Serana nods.  
“Does that mean anyone holding the stone can control him?” I continue. “I’d prefer not to have this guy used against us. Fighting him once was bad enough.”  
Valerica shakes her head. “Normally, that would be the case. With access to the Soul Cairn however, we were able to alter the effect. Suffice to say Serana and I are the only ones who are able to control him.”  
Only Serana and her huh? So long as Serana’s got a hold on his leash, I’m willing to let that slide. Still don’t completely trust Valerica though.  
I look back at the still form in front of me.  
Gotta say, it's a little unnerving seeing him just float there.  
“Is there a way to put him back in the stone, or will he be out of it from now on?”   
Serana reaches into her robe, and withdraws the stone. She pushes magic into it and Morokei’s form slowly begins to fade away.  
Guess that answers that question.  
“So now that we’ve got a pet dragon priest, do you have any plans for him?” I ask Serana.  
She replaces the stone within her robe and shakes her head. “We do not have anything planned beyond using him in battles. We do not need him as a powersource since we have access to the Soul Cairn, and any other use would be a waste of his considerable power.”  
I chuckle as something occurs to me.  
Valerica looks at me inquisitively. “What do you find funny?” She asks politely.  
I turn to her with a grin. “I was just thinking about the sheer amount of power we have staying in this temple. We have a dragon necromancer, another dragon who’s one of the stronger of his kind, the last Dragonborn, two Daughters of Coldharbour, a few dozen undead, a soul bound dragon priest, and me. It’s getting a little ridiculous is all.”  
A bark from the entrance to the room draws my attention.  
I laugh. “And a ghost dog. Can’t forget about you.”  
Mr. Rogers pants happily, and trots into the room.  
Wait a second… 

Mr. Rogers  
Best Doggo  
Level- 32  
Race- Spirit  
HP- 895  
Thoughts about you- You aren’t petting him right now. This travesty must not stand.

I laugh out loud at the thoughts, and begin scratching him behind the ears as soon as he gets close enough.  
Serana tilts her head at me. “Did you just use your information spell on him?”  
I nod, and keep petting my dog.  
Serana hums. “Do you mind if I ask why?”  
“Not at all.” I say, and pull out the gem I got as a quest reward once we were out of the Soul Cairn.   
Serana catches it when I toss it to her, and begins to inspect it. Valerica leans over her shoulder to get a look at it as well.  
Serana’s eyebrows narrow as she inspects the object. “I have never seen anything like this. I would assume you retrieved it with your ability?”  
I nod, and begin to rub Mr. Roger’s tummy.  
“What is it?” Valerica asks. “I feel a power coming from it, but it feels far away.”  
“Makes sense.” I say as I stand up. “It’s called a Gem of Empowering. It’s a one time use item that’ll increase the power of whoever it’s used on. I don’t know how much of an increase it is, but I do know you can’t be too strong or it won’t work on you.”  
Valerica frowns. “Then I assume this will not work on any of us?”  
“Well…” I turn to Mr. Rogers who is sitting down with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.  
Serana breaks out into a grin. “That is a fabulous idea.”  
“What’s a fabulous idea?”   
The room’s inhabitants turn towards the door and see Svar entering with Ascalon drawn. She looks at us in confusion, before saying. “Did none of you hear the screeching wail earlier?”  
I turn to look at Serana, and Svar follows my gaze.  
“That was our fault.” Serana says. “We completed our work on Morokei, and we did not think to warn you before calling up its power.”  
Svar raises an eyebrow. “You summoned an undead lich that nearly killed us without thinking a warning would be nice?”  
Serana actually looks a little sheepish after that.  
Valerica steps forward. “It was my fault. It has been quite some time since I was a guest, and have forgotten my manners. It won’t happen again.”  
Svar sheathes Ascalon and walks into the room. “Just let us know next time.”  
Valerica and Serana nod.  
“So,” Svar continues. “what’s a fabulous idea?”  
Serana holds out the gem to her, and Svar takes it.  
“I got that from my ability.” I say as she looks it over. “It’ll make something stronger, but it won’t work on anyone too strong.”  
Svar’s eyes leave the stone, and move to Mr. Rogers. “You were going to use it on your dog? That actually is a pretty good idea. He’s been with us in pretty much every major fight we’ve had, so making him stronger would definitely help.”  
“That and he’s a good boy.” I say as I pat him on the head.  
Mr. Rogers barks in response.  
Svar tosses the gem back to me. “Were you going to do it now?”  
I shrug. “No reason not to.”  
I kneel down next to Mr. Rogers, and hold the gem out.  
I’m not quite sure how to use this thing, but it shouldn’t be too hard to figure it out.  
I place the gem against his head. Nothing happens, so I push a small amount of magic into it. The gem starts to glow bright blue, and I let go of it. It sticks to Mr. Rogers’s head, and continues to get brighter. A few seconds later, the gem shatters.  
Mr. Rogers shivers slightly, and his spectral form begins to glow brighter.  
“I’m guessing that means it worked?” Svar says.  
I think so. How’s he lookin?

Mr. Rogers  
Best Doggo  
Level- 160  
Race- Spirit  
HP- 3,465  
Thoughts about you- He’s wondering why you just gave him your lightning.

Dang. That’s a pretty big jump. He’s five times stronger if my math is right.  
Hm, what does, ‘Gave him my lightning’ mean?  
I lean forward to inspect him a little closer, and he seems to grin at me.  
Mr. Rogers brings his head back and begins to howl. As he does, his form lights up even brighter, and blue energy begins to weave around his form.  
I have a lightning dog. I have a freaking lightning dog!  
I begin laughing as Mr. Rogers stands up and begins running around the room much faster than he could move before.  
Svar turns to me with a smile on her face. “He’s definitely your familiar.”  
I stand back up and just watch as Mr. Rogers runs around the room.  
“It will be interesting to see what he is now capable of.” Serana thinks aloud.  
“We can test that later.” Svar says as she turns to me. “Did you get anything else when you pulled that stone?”  
I nod. “I got a more advanced version of a lantern, a plague ridden boot, and two things that are actually cool.”  
I slowly pull out the two better things I got from the gacha.  
Svar’s eyes instantly go to the lightsaber, but Serana and Valerica are both much more interested in the small vial in my other hand.  
“Is that like that thing you gave me when we got here?” She asks.  
I grin at her. “Yes and no. That was a model of the real thing, and this is the real thing.”  
The two vampiresses redirect their attention to the small metal cylinder at my words.  
“Would you be willing to share the capabilities of that item?” Valerica asks.  
In answer, I simply push a small button on said item.  
The bright violet blade lights up the space. Funny enough, the blade is almost the same color as the portal to the Soul Cairn not fifteen feet away from me. The two light sources play off each other in a rather interesting way as they illuminate the room with shifting light.  
Serana walks forwards and inspects the blade. “It is made of energy. Not unlike a bound weapon. What makes this weapon so special?”  
I turn from her and walk over to the wall. I motion at it, and over my shoulder, ask, “Is this particularly important?”  
I get two head shakes, and a shrug from Svar.  
Not needing any more prompting, I gently slide the saber’s blade point first into the stone. There is almost no resistance as the plasma melts anything it touches.  
Svar is positively beaming as she sees the damage. “It’s like Yamato!” She exclaims.  
I pull the saber from the wall, and make a so-so gesture with my other hand. “Kind of, but not really. Yamato can cut through things because of its nature. This blade is called a lightsaber in its home universe. It’s essentially just controlled fire. Ok, that’s a dramatic oversimplification. It would be more accurate to say that this is a controlled beam of fire directly from the sun, because it really is that hot. Yamato cuts things with almost no resistance, this burns things until there’s nothing left to resist.”  
Serana becomes thoughtful at that. “Is there anything that can resist its heat?”  
I nod. “In the universe it’s from, there’s quite a few things that can stop it. I’m willing to bet that most stronger dragons would be resistant enough to heat to block it, but that’s guesswork. The best way to stop it here would be to use lightning.”  
“Lightning?” Valerica asks intrigued.   
“If you want to know the science later, I’d be willing to tell you, but for now just know it’ll work. We still haven’t gone over the second item after all.”  
I extinguish the blade and go to put the lightsaber away, but Svar stops me.  
“Can I have it?” She asks intently.   
I pause as I take a moment to study her. Her eyes are hyper focused on the lightsaber’s hilt, and she has an air of desire and anticipation about her.  
Her dragon side’s kicking in isn’t it? I guess it makes sense. I did give her a toy version of one of these, and now she’s seeing the real thing. Makes sense she’d want it, and honestly I can’t really think of a reason not to let her have it. I have Yamato, which is more than I could ever really want. I guess I have that duel wielding perk now, but a lightsaber in one hand and Yamato in the other just feels like overkill.  
After thinking it over for a second, I walk over to her and motion down to it. “Push this if you want to turn it on or off, and do not cut yourself with it. I know you know how to handle a sword, but this thing is Yamato levels of dangerous.” I hold it out to her.  
She takes it with a smile and says, “I know, thanks for looking out for me.” She puts the hilt into a satchel at her side.  
Remembering a project I worked on while I was restoring armor, I reach into my inventory and pull out a belt.  
“Here.” I say as I toss it over to Svar.  
She looks it over and raises an eyebrow at me. “A belt?”  
I nod. “Take the saber back out.”  
She does so, and I hold my hand out for it. She gives it over, allowing me to clip it to the metal catch on the belt.  
“There.” I say. “Now you can wear it at your hip.”  
Svar smiles. “Cool.” She rearranges her gear a bit, and is soon wearing two belts at diagonal angles. One holding Ascalon, and one holding the saber. The two belts hang around either of her hips, and meet a little beneath her belly button to form an ‘X’.  
Dang. She looks pretty badass. How’s she keeping the belts from shifting around though? It’s probably a hint of alteration magic.  
“Thanks Dusk.” Svar says with a grin.  
I return the expression. “Don’t mention it.”  
“I do not mean to cut in,” Valerica says, drawing my attention. “but that vial you are holding is giving off a very strange energy. It is holy, but not. Powerful, yet simple. Would you mind explaining what it is?”  
I look back down and remember the small white bottle in my hand. I look at it for a little longer, and smile. “It’s the captured light of a star.” I say. “If I remember things right, the liquid inside the vial was once in a small pool. The pool was in a forest in another world, and from there it was able to absorb the light from the star. That’s what gives it its power.”  
“What is its power?” Serana asks.  
I shrug. “I’m honestly not too sure. Again, my knowledge isn’t perfect. I know what some people used it for, but I’m not sure I can recreate those feats. Even if I could, they wouldn’t be all that useful to us. There is probably a way for us to use it that’ll give us some benefit though. It's just a matter of finding it.”  
“Got any ideas on how to use it?” Svar asks. Now looking at the small vial.  
I shrug. “Not really, but we’ve got plenty of time to figure something out. Besides, we’re more than capable of looking after ourselves without it.”  
Valerica nods, and turns to Serana. “Our work is done, and I feel the need for rest. It has been a very long time since I was able to sleep without the Ideal Masters looming over me, and I would like to take advantage of this new situation.”  
“There are plenty of living quarters in this temple.” Serana says back. “Just pick a room and arrange it as you see fit. Well, a room that is not ours.”  
The corner of Valerica’s lip pulls up. “You need not worry daughter, I know better than to disturb my host’s quarters.” She turns to Svar and I, and nods her head to the both of us. “I thank you again for both freeing me, and granting me a place to stay. I will see you when I awake.” She turns and leaves without another word.  
The rest of us watch as she leaves.  
Valerica is equal parts badass and weird. That woman just went from blood starved vampire, to reunited with a daughter she hadn’t seen for centuries, to summoning Gaunter O’Dimm, to sealing an ancient dragon priest, to ‘I’m tired’, all in the span of a few days. Her mental fortitude has got to be top tier if she can just take all that bullshit in stride.  
“So,” Svar says once Valerica’s gone. “food?”  
Serana and I agree, and the three of us make our way to the mess hall. Svar takes out some dried meat while Serana and I each take a glass of blood.  
I can’t help but grin as I sit down at the table. This will never not feel classy as all hell.  
We sit in silence for a while, just enjoying being able to relax. In the end, it’s Serana who breaks the silence.  
“Thank you again.” She says in a soft tone. “You both risked much to help me and my mother. I will not soon forget that.”  
Svar waves her off. “You don’t have to thank us. We’ve got your back just like you’ve got ours. We’re a team now.”  
I nod in agreement. “We’re with you Serana, and I’m glad you have your mom back.”  
Serana smiles at us, but the expression fades as she looks down to my hand. “I just wish you had not needed to sacrifice so much.”  
Svar follows her gaze, and the mood sours as we all look at O’Dimm’s brand.  
“What are we going to do about that?” Svar asks. “You know the guy better than we do, so tell us how to help you.”  
I let out a sigh. “Honestly? There isn’t anything we can do right now. I only know of one other deal he’s made that was similar to what he did with me. He gave that guy a specific timeline, and now that I think about it, he gave me one too.”  
“When?” Serana and Svar ask at the same time.  
I shake my head. “Don’t worry. If I interpreted things correctly, then we’ve got plenty of time.”  
“What did he say?” Svar asks.  
“He said something about using Yamato more creatively, and that he would be disappointed if I couldn’t transport myself.”  
“What does that mean?” Serana asks.  
I grab my chin as I think. “This is me guessing, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I think he wants me to use Yamato to somehow go to where he is.”  
Svar tilts her head. “Where is he?”  
“My best guess is he’s back in his own world just having a gay old time, but he could theoretically be anywhere I guess.”  
Serana’s eyebrows scrunch together. “Can Yamato be used to transport us to his world?”  
I smile at her wording. ‘Us’, not ‘you’. Glad to know they’ve got my back.  
“I’m not sure.” I say in answer to her question. “It was able to transport someone from hell to Earth then back again, so theoretically yes? Again, I’m just guessing here.”  
“If that is truly the case, then we need to study Yamato further in order to ascertain all of its properties. The sooner you are free of that entity the better.” Serana says, and Svar nods in agreement.  
“We’ll deal with it when we deal with it.” I say. “Between Alduin, Harkon, Miraak, Potema, and now Gaunter, we’ve got a lot on our plate right now. We’ll take care of each problem as it arises. Besides, I’m willing to bet jumping worlds is going to be a little more involved than swinging Yamato around a little bit.”   
And if it isn’t more involved than that, we’ll need to stay way the fuck away from Bolas. If Yamato really works like that, the power hungry planeswalking dragon will be on us the moment he learns about the sword. Here’s to hoping he doesn’t exist in this weird multiverse I’ve found myself in!  
“Harkon is not as pressing a concern as the others.” Serana says. “We have effectively stopped his plans.”  
Svar looks at her. “Ya, but I kinda figured you still wanted some payback.”  
My thoughts exactly.  
Serana nods. “I do, but both he and I are immortal. There will be plenty of time to kill him later.” Her eyes light up again as she turns back to Svar. “Speaking of immortality, I may have a few ideas for how to make yourself immortal without having to be turned.”  
Svar smiles at her. “Thanks, but Paarthurnax and I are working on it.”  
What?  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You’re ‘working on it’? Are you using the thu’um to do something?”  
“We’re still in the early stages, but we are making progress. If we make any major progress I’ll tell you about it.”  
Serana and I share a look, but we both accept Svar’s words and let the topic drop.  
Svar lets out a long yawn. “I think your mom was onto something when she went to take a nap, Serana. I’m tired.”  
“Then get some rest.” I say. “We’ve got plenty of time now, so you can afford to take the rest of the day off.”  
Svar nods her head. “Good. Let’s go.” She stands up and walks from the room. Motioning for Serana and I to follow her.  
Serana finishes her glass, and stands. “Best to not keep her waiting.” She too leaves the room.  
Eh, I guess I could use a nap.  
I stand and follow after them.  
We all make it back to our room, and lay down after taking our armor off.  
We exchange goodnights, and begin to drift off.  
I’ve missed sleep.

(Interlude: Alduin)

Her brother had been here. No, her brother has lived here.  
Very interesting.  
Why had he waited so long at the location of her banishment? Was he awaiting her, or perhaps he was simply standing vigil over the tower itself?  
The reason matters not in the end. He is no longer here, and therefore Alduin is able to claim it as her own. It will make an excellent location from which to expand her conquest into the rest of Tamriel.   
The mortals who reside here may need to be killed, but that is no pressing matter. Their defeat will not take overmuch effort, and in the end they are but another distraction from her path.  
It is her destiny to devour the entirety of the world, but she lacks the strength to do so at present. She must grow stronger. The best way to accomplish this goal is to spread outside of Skyrim. All of Nirn’s peoples once bent the knee to the mighty dovah, but they have forgotten their place. It is time to remind them.  
Alduin reared back, and lifted her head to the sky.  
“ZU’U BEL HI!” Alduin bellowed.  
The shout could be heard for miles all around the mountain, and for those who knew to listen, it could be heard from anywhere.  
Alduin did not need to wait long, as the first of her followers announced her presence with a mighty roar.   
Soon, more ancient voices joined in, and several red, gold, green, white, black, blue, and grey shapes began circling the air around Snow Throat.  
It was time.  
The world would remember their fear of the dovah.


	21. 21

The day had gone pretty well. I woke up next to two beautiful women, I had a nice pint of blood for breakfast, and I played fetch with Mr. Rogers. The sun was slowly going down, and I was about to get to work on some potions when the universe decided I’m not allowed to be happy.

Quest added  
[Uninvited Guests!]  
It seems your secret base is not as secret as you thought! Someone’s found you, and they’re in a bad mood!  
Objective- Defend your home!  
Bonus Objective- Defeat your attackers!  
Bonus Objective- ???  
Rewards- ?  
Bonus Rewards- ?,?  
Failure- You will be forced to move or die

One week. Is one week off too much to ask?  
I activate Godspeed and begin running around the temple.  
My first stop is the portal room. Serana and Valerica are working on something involving some green crystals, but I run in and interrupt their work.  
“Someone found us. I don’t know who, or how many, but we need to get ready to fight.” I wait just a moment to see Serana give me a sharp nod, before I Godspeed away.  
I stop at the top of the mountain to find Svar, Paarthurnax, and Durnehviir all looking down at the ground. I walk up next to them and follow their gazes.  
With my vampiric sight, I’m able to see a small group of humanoids walking through the clearing where the Forsworn camp once stood. I’m too high up to get much detail, but it’s pretty apparent that they’re looking for something.  
“Any idea who they are?” I ask the group.  
“Vampires.” Durnehviir rumbles. “I have spent too long in Valerica’s company not to recognize them. However, these ones are goraan. They do not possess my friend’s years or experience.”  
I look up at the setting sun and curse internally. Guess these guys planned their arrival if they’re showing up right as the sun sets.  
Svar turns to Paarthurnax. “Are these the same ones that were here before? I didn’t get as good a look at them as you did.”  
The great grey dragon hums for a moment. “Nid. These ones are different, but it is possible they serve the same master.”  
I let out a long breath. “I’ll go let Serana and Valerica know we’ve probably got some of Potema’s lackeys on our hands. You guys get ready to fight in case they’re able to find the temple.”  
Paarthurnax shakes his massive head. “They already have Dusk. They may not know where to enter, but they would not have returned in such numbers while being ignorant to our presence.”  
I furrow my eyebrows and look back down to the clearing. “I only see eight. Are there more.”  
Svar nods, and points off into the trees. “There are at least a hundred more waiting there. There could be more I don’t see.”  
“Are they all vampires?” I ask.  
She nods. “As far as I can tell.”  
“No.” Durnehviir breaks in. “While the majority are, there are several necromancers among their number.”  
I nod. “Let me know if anything changes. I’ll be down near the entrance.”  
I get a nod from Svar, and watch her draw Ascalon and Reven’s saber before I Godspeed away.  
I don’t find Serana and Valerica in the portal room. By the time I get back, they’re standing near the entrance with a couple dozen armored undead.  
Valerica notices me first and walks up to me. “What are we facing?” She asks.  
“Vampires and necromancers.” I say. “The working theory is that Potema somehow figured out where we are, and took offense to our presence.”  
“How did they find this place?” Valerica asks.  
I shake my head. “I don’t know, and it’s kind of a mute point now. What matters is that they did, and are pissed at us for some reason.”  
“How many of them are there?” Serana asks as she walks over.  
“Svar saw at least a hundred.” I say as I turn to her. “I don’t know how many are vampires, and how many are necromancers. I just know there’s a mix.”  
Valerica frowns and grabs her chin. “How old are the vampires?”  
“I don’t know exactly, but if they’re from Movarth’s coven there shouldn’t be any older than two-hundred years.” I answer.   
She nods. “Then we should be able to defeat them. Were they children of Harkon I would have suggested fleeing.”  
Thanks for the vote of confidence lady.  
I turn to Serana. “You’ve still got Morokei right?”  
She nods, and retrieves the soul stone from her robes. Holding it up to me.  
“Good. Do you think the two of you can hold the main entrance if they find it? I’d really rather avoid going out to meet them if we have the home field advantage.”  
Serana gives me a wide grin. She turns away, and holds out a hand. I feel a pulse of mana, and a dark shadow begins to rise from the stone floor. Soon Morokei floats a few feet away bereft of any expression.   
Serana turns back to me with a fire in her eyes. “I think we will be more than able to deal with a group of pests.”  
“Quite.” Valerica says. She waves her hand, and the undead form ranks. She waves her hand again and they begin forming a shield wall facing towards the entrance.  
Neat trick. I need to figure out how to do that one of these days.  
“Come Serana.” Valerica says as she reaches a hand into her own robe. “Let us prepare.” She pulls her hand free, and I see the Orb of Death resting within it.  
Serana moves to assist her armor, and I take a quick look over them.  
Serana holds the sickly green stone in one hand, and her sword in the other while Morokei’s enslaved form floats behind her. Valerica holds the black Orb of Death in one hand, and is using the other to direct an undead horde armed and armored with the equipment of long dead blades.  
Ya I think they got this.  
I allow myself a grin, and Godspeed back up the mountain.  
“Is everything alright?” Svar asks as I come to a stop next to her.  
I nod at her. “Serana and Valerica will handle the main entrance. They’ve got all the undead and Morokei with them. They’ll be fine.”  
She nods back, and we both turn our attention to the clearing.  
In the time I’ve been gone the scene has changed. The small advance force has probably reported the clearing safe, and as a result, there is a mass gathering of well armed humanoids systematically searching the area. A few of them are blasting spells into the stone of the mountain. Blowing large chunks of rock free.  
“Well I guess that removes any doubt about their intentions here.” I say.  
“Should we attack?” Svar asks.  
I nod gravely. “If we don’t they’ll keep blowing apart the mountain until they get lucky and find a way in. I’d prefer we strike now so Serana and Valerica don’t get flanked.” I say.  
Svar nods, and her scales emerge. Her cloak splits down the middle and forms into her wings.  
I follow her example, and enter my lightning form. I also stack several magical shields on both of us.  
I hear a bark from my side, and turn to find Mr. Rogers standing there with his sword in his mouth.  
I give him a nod, and begin channeling my magic. I stop myself when Paarthurnax speaks.  
“A moment please.” He rumbles. “Dovahkiin, Durnehviir, you can assist me.” The old dragon closes his eyes, and inhales deeply.  
Seemingly understanding what he’s doing, Svar and Durnehviir do the same.  
Just as the silence is starting to get to me, all three open their eyes and look up to the sky.  
“STRUN BAH QO!” The three of them shout together.  
The combined power of their three voices shakes the entire mountain. I am able to keep my feet thanks to my reflexes, but looking down the mountain I see some of our attackers weren’t so lucky.  
As our guests pick themselves up from where they are sprawled on the ground, I hear a crack of thunder. I turn to look at the sky with a grin.  
I thought I recognized that shout.  
Where before it was a relatively calm and clear evening, the sky has become dominated by large dark clouds that rumble as they approach. All of which are crackling with bright blue energy.  
Realizing the storm is still building. I quickly channel my magic, and force it up into the clouds.  
The clouds spread even faster, and the faint crackling has turned into large blue bolts that snake around the sky in a vicious electrical pattern.  
Mr. Rogers barks again, and lights up with the same energy that is gathering above us. His entire form becomes bright blue, and he jumps. I reach out to catch him, when he turns into a large bolt of lightning and joins the storm.  
Since when could he do that?  
Realizing the Mr. Rogers knows what he’s doing, I look back down at the clearing. I’m just in time to see the first bolt fall. It impacts the ground with a mighty *THOOM* and releases a shockwave that sends nearby vampires and mages flying through the air. A second, much larger, bolt follows it and three of the vampires are bisected by a dog shaped lightning bolt.  
Holy shit that is cool. Mr. Rogers is the best dog ever, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.  
Turning my attention back to the vampires, I’m forced to give them a little credit. They reacted very quickly to the sky turning against them. The majority of them blur away to find cover, while a few brave idiots raise their arms above them to create arcane shields.  
Turns out a magical storm created by the voices of three dragons, a lightning puppy, and a master electromancer can cut through hastily crafted arcane shields like butter. Who knew?  
Several of the mages are vaporized within thirty seconds of the storm starting. Some by Mr. Rogers, others just by random bolts.  
Once the survivors realize how ineffective their shields are, they follow after the vampires. They charge into the cave that leads into Sky Haven, and I begin to move back inside.  
I turn back at the door, and look to the dragons. “Durnehviir, Paarthurnax. Can you keep watch on the outside?”  
Paarthurnath nods. “Geh. We will continue to watch the surroundings.”  
I nod back, then turn to Svar. I hold a hand out to her. “Coming with?”  
She cringes for a moment, but shakes her head and grabs my hand. “Drop me off a little ways from the door would you?”  
I nod. Dropping a disoriented dragonborn onto the front lines is a good way to get said dragonborn killed.  
I reach my other arm up behind her head to support her neck, and Godspeed away.  
I leave Svar in the nearmost armory, and after watching her for a second to make sure she’d be alright, speed over to the entrance.  
“They’re coming.” I say as soon as I arrive.  
Serana and Valerica both give me a nod, before turning back to the door.  
Serana summons her armor, and grows her wings from her back.  
Valerica smiles widely, and waves her hand over the Orb of Death. A dark black shadow emerges from it, and falls over Valerica.   
Caught off guard, I look over to make sure the thing isn’t eating her.  
The black mass shifts to look in my direction, and I see Valerica’s face peering through the darkness. She grins at me, then turns back to the door.  
I open my mouth to ask what the hell that is when a loud boom emanates from the other side of the large face that is the door to Sky Haven Temple.  
I shut my mouth and focus on the door.  
We can table the demonic shadow armor from a sentient ball of pure evil for later. We’ve got more important things to deal with right now.  
I hear the sound of someone drawing a sword from behind me, and almost turn to strike when I stop at hearing the second sound.  
*Kwishuuuuuuuu*  
I look over my shoulder to see Svar walking down the hall with both blades drawn and her wings and scales out.  
She walks up and joins the rest of us just as another explosion shakes the door.   
Valerica waves a hand and the undead begin to move forward slowly. They organize themselves into some bastardized phalanx. Ready to strike whatever makes it through before it can reach us.  
Another explosion sounds, and large chunks of the door blast away.  
I contemplate layering several shields over the door, but ultimately decide against it. I don’t have any one-way shields yet, so we wouldn’t be able to attack them with shields up either. All it would do is let them see our ambush from a protected position. It would be better to just save the mana at this point.  
When I get a chance I need to widen my repertoire.  
With a final explosion, the door finally crumbles. Allowing the attackers to swarm into the temple.  
The vampires in their group waste no time. Using their supernatural speed to rush through what remains of the door. They are met by the undead, but it’s quite clear who is superior as the vampires begin to tear apart the shield wall.  
Luckily the undead are just fodder to buy time for our real defenders.  
Svar spews flame forth from her mouth, I begin raining down lightning, Serana fires spikes of ice from her outstretched hands, Morokei mechanically creates walls of flame around the approaching undead, and Valerica simply raises her arm. The vampire’s own shadows begin to attack them as Valerica channels her mana.  
Before long, all of our undead have been ripped apart, but the five of us managed to destroy all of the vampires who charged through initially as recompense. None of us celebrate though, because more vampires and several mages move through the opening. Albeit much more cautiously than those who came before them.  
We begin to recreate our kill box, but our enemies respond by spreading out. The vampires speed away in different directions. Some run around to our sides and spread out behind us, and others simply charge us head on.  
Svar moves forward to meet them and begins to bisect everything she touches. It’s kind of hilarious to watch as one of the vampires brings his shield up to block the lightsaber only for it to be split apart alongside the rest of him.  
More vampires charge toward the duel wielding Svar, but Serana draws her own blade and backs Svar up. The two of them watching each other’s backs as they kill anything that comes near them.  
Seeing that they have the melee in hand, I turn my attention to the mages. Most of them were able to teleport away from the entrance before we were able to kill them, and they have all now started firing spells at us.  
I threw up shields around Svar and Serana to absorb several spells that were being fired their way.  
With a thought I activate Godspeed once more and charge toward the nearest mage. Drawing Yamato as I closed the gap.  
The blonde haired mage doesn’t even register my having moved before I leave him in pieces on the floor.  
I speed toward the next mage and leave yet another pile of viscera in my wake.   
I look for another target, but see all of the mages mostly handled. Morokei is dueling six of them at once, and doing so successfully. Valerica, meanwhile, is smiling like a madwoman as spears of darkness impale a good number of the attackers. With my soul magic I’m able to feel as their very beings are pulled from their bodies and forced into the orb Valerica holds in her hand.  
That has the potential to be interesting, but we have more pressing matters to worry about right now.  
I refocus, and charge over to where Serana and Svar are fighting the vampires.   
I announce my presence by cutting through a female who was about to attack Serana, and I join their deadly ballet without any more fanfare.  
Svar is keeping up not only with the attacking vampires, but Serana and I as well. My guess is she used Slow Time while I was slaughtering the mages. She has also dropped Ascalon and is only using the lightsaber, but she is using it to great effect. It makes sense. She has had little to no practice duel wielding, and the lightsaber is much more effective against non-dragons than Ascalon is.  
Serana on the other hand has the same manic grin as her mother. After studying her for half a second between my strikes I can tell she’s playing with these vampires. She hasn’t even entered her Vampire Lord form, and she is still so far above them as to be able to hold back.  
I shake my head as I cut through another head.  
I legitimately believed we might have an issue with these guys, but we haven’t even started trying. Just how strong are we, am I, to be able to fight these vampires without a care?   
A terrified scream of, “NOOOOOoooooo…..” signals the end of the fight as a mage’s soul is collected by Valerica.  
I take a moment to look around the area. There are bodies, and parts of bodies everywhere. The entire entryway has been painted red, and there are quite a few burns scarring the stone. Both from magic and Svar’s lightsaber.   
For all the damage done to the surrounding, my companions are untouched. Well, untouched in the sense that no one has been hurt. Serana has been drenched in the blood of those she cut apart, and can’t seem to keep the predatory grin from her features at the presence of all the blood.   
Svar’s scales have some blood on them, but that is all from Serana’s kills or when she was still holding Ascalon. The majority of her own kills were done with a lightsaber, and those cauterize as they pass through material.  
As for myself, I’m perfectly clean. A pretty handy benefit to possessing a lightning form is that blood and other things that could get you dirty disintegrate the second they touch you.   
That being said…  
I walk over to a mage’s corpse and sink my fangs into his neck. Quickly draining his entire body. I suppress a blissful shiver as I release the shriveled body and turn back towards the rest of the group.  
Even with Gamer’s Mind, that much blood in the air is intoxicating.  
Svar deactivates her saber, and turns to the rest of us. “What now?”  
“Now?” Serana says. She brings her blade up and licks the blood off of it. Closing her eyes as she savors the taste. She opens them once more and turns to Svar. “Now we ensure there are no others lingering outside, and dispose of them if there are.”  
I think I might have some serious issues.  
Upon seeing my vampire girlfriend lick her blade clean of blood while talking to our dragon girlfriend amidst a field of dismembered corpses my first thought was, ‘Oh my god that’s hot.’  
Yep. Definitely have some issues. Oh well.  
“We don’t stop with that.” I say as I pull myself from my thoughts. Everyone looks at me, so I continue. “These fucks attacked our home. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve been pretty lax when it comes to people fucking with us. That stops now. If this was Potema’s doing, we burn down Morthal. If it wasn’t, we burn down wherever it was they came from. Any objections?”  
I have had it with people fucking us over. We’re strong enough now to push back, so we’re going to run them over with a goddamn tank.  
Valerica gives me an approving nod, Serana’s grin widens, and Svar shrugs.  
Morokei continues to float and stare straight ahead.  
“Question.” Svar says suddenly.  
The three of us turn to her, and she turns to me.  
“If we’re going on a revenge spree anyway, can we stop by Whiterun to kill Farengar and Delphine?” She asks hopefully.  
The corner of my lip pulls up as I reply. “That’s a fantastic idea.”  
“We will deal with this later.” Serana says as she brandishes her sword. “We still must search the surroundings for any others.”  
“I’ve got it.” Svar says. She takes in a breath and shouts, “KORAAV!”  
Her eyes pan over the entrance, and out where the old Forsworn camp was. She shakes her head as she turns back to Serana. “There’s no one…” She suddenly leaps forward with her arm outstretched.  
I send out a pulse of soul magic to see if there is anyone left around us, but come up with nothing.  
Svar’s fingers close around something a few steps behind Serana, and she slams it into the ground. “Drop. Your. Spell.” She growls out.  
The air underneath her hand shimmers slightly and reveals one of the mages with Svar’s hand wrapped around his throat.  
“Well hello there.” Serana says sweetly as she strolls over. “It seems we have a rather gifted illusion mage in our midst.” She leans down over the struggling man. “You wouldn’t mind if we asked you a few questions now would you?”  
“I’ll tell you what you want as long as you promise to let me go!” He gasps around Svar.  
I raise an eyebrow at him. “You are aware we don’t need your cooperation right? You kind of blew up our front door, so I’m not exactly feeling very compassionate towards you right now.”  
He turns to me with a sneer. “Torture won’t work on me! I only feel pain when I want to.”  
Well shit. His heart beat indicates he’s telling the truth, and that’s definitely within the realm of possibility for a talented illusionist.   
I sigh. “Fine. We’ll let you go if you answer our questions.”  
He shakes his head back and forth as far as Svar will let him. “I can tell when people are lying. You have to promise to let me go or I won’t tell you a thing.” He spits out.  
Seriously? Am I really having to put up with this?  
Just for curiosity’s sake I stab Yamato down into his leg.  
He doesn’t even flinch.  
Shit. Guess he actually doesn’t feel pain.  
“Fine.” I say. “I want your leader’s head more than I want yours. If you tell us what we want to know, I’ll order everyone to let you go. Deal?”  
He studies me for a moment, then grins. “What do you want to know?”  
“Who sent you, and how did you find this place?” Valerica immediately breaks in.   
He shifts under Svar in order to look up at her. “Potema. One of our scouting parties got attacked by werewolves near the cave. We figured that was where the pack called home. Potema wanted more soldiers after Solitude, so she sent us to kill and raise the wolves.”  
“What happened at Solitude?” I ask.  
“We attacked, and we lost.” He says. “We lost bad. She wanted to bolster our forces with the wolves. Only there aren’t any werewolves here. It’s just you assho…” He’s cut off as Svar cuts off his airway. He doesn’t react in any way, but his voice is cut off.  
“Without the sass please. Where is Potema now?” I ask.  
Svar loosens her grip, and the mage turns to me. “I don’t know. She took her pet and went off somewhere to get other allies. She only told us to be ready with the wolves as soon as she got back.”  
I suppress a groan. Are we really going to have to play hide and seek with this lady? And I really do not like the sound of, ‘other allies’. Hopefully it’s nothing more significant than a pack of werewolves.  
“Who is this, ‘pet’.” Svar growls at him.  
“I don’t know who she was, but she all but belongs to the queen now. She was turned when we first took Morthal.” He answers.  
Eh, she doesn’t sound all that important.  
“This can’t have been your entire army.” Serana says. “How many of you are left in Morthal?”  
“I don’t know the exact number, but there’s at least a few thousand. Our group was relatively small because we were only expecting wolves. Not whatever the fuck you guys are that you can just change the damn sky!” He says.  
Valerica looms over him. “Those are the numbers you possess in Morthal, but what of here? Will there be a second assault?”  
He shakes his head. “We’re it. It was supposed to be a slaughter, so we didn’t bring that many of us.”  
Svar snorts. “It was a slaughter.”  
The man wisely keeps his mouth shut.  
So Potema attacked Solitude, is off somewhere getting backup, and we’ve got a few thousand undead to kill. Good enough.  
“Alright.” I say. “You’ve held up your end.” I turn to my companions and say, “Valerica, Serana, Svarline, you are hereby ordered to let this man go.”  
Valerica scoffs.  
Serana chuckles.  
Svar grins.  
The mage’s face pales as he realizes the situation he’s in.  
Wording is a bitch ain’t it buddy?  
Serana hums. “This one is rather strong Dusk.” She says contemplatively. “He will not do anything for my mother and I, but you might receive something beneficial from him.”   
I furrow my eyebrows and look at her. “What do you mean?”  
“Drink.” She says. “You will know what I speak of after.”  
I shrug and move toward the pinned mage.  
“You fucker! I’ll fucking kill you you fucking mon…” I cut him off as I sink my fangs into his neck and begin to drain him.  
There’s something to his blood that I’ve never tasted before. Something delicious.   
I hurriedly drain the rest of him, and lean back to take a breath.

You have drained a powerful creature!  
Vampiric Form [Wolf] unlocked!  
Perk [I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own] added!

I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own  
All illusion spells and effects are 30% more effective

Quest Complete!  
[Uninvited Guests!]  
It seems your secret base is not as secret as you thought! Someone’s found you, and they’re in a bad mood!  
Objective- Defend your home!(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Defeat your attackers!(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Ensure no damage can be done to Sky Haven(Failed)  
Rewards- 2 Gacha Coins  
Bonus Rewards- 1 Gacha Coin

I turn to Serana with a blood drenched smile. “That was good.”  
She nods. “I am glad. Now,” She turns back to Svar. “ not that I don’t trust him, but would you mind ensuring he was the last of them.”  
Svar smiles, and her scales begin to fade as her cloak knits itself back together. “Already done. I checked the second I incapacitated him. There’s no one left.”  
A happy bark draws our attention back to the entrance.  
Mr. Rogers is trotting through the viscera and severed limbs of those we killed earlier with a big puppy smile on his face, and his sword in his maw.  
This image would be dark as hell if he wasn’t such a cute dog.  
…   
Okay. It’s still dark as hell, but it’s made better by the cute dog.  
I scratch behind his ears once he’s close enough, and turn to the rest of the group. “So I guess we’re burning Morthal to the ground now.”  
“And Farengar.” Svar chips in.  
I nod. “And Farengar.”  
Serana looks at us in confusion. “Who is this Farengar, and what did he do?”  
Svar growls. “Tried to chain us, and turn us into his own personal weapon against the dragons. He needs to die.”  
Serana studies her for a moment before nodding. “Yes. We will deal with him, but we should all rest and make preparations first.” She turns to Valerica. “Will you be coming with us mother?”  
Valerica smiles at her. “Of course daughter. Even if I did not owe you all that I do I would accompany you. I do not respond well to threats against my family. Besides,” Her eyes shift to the orb in her hand. Where before it was black with the faintest purple glow, it is now bright purple with the faintest black hue. “I have just collected the souls of every attacker who made it into the temple. It would be a shame to waste them.”  
Umm, what?  
Didn’t that thing need entire cities full of dead people to make a single skeletal dragon? Well I doubt whatshisface was as good a necromancer as Valerica, and I doubt a peasant’s soul is equal to that of an Elder Scrolls vampire.  
I’m just going to be very happy she’s on Serana’s side, and ignore the issue until it becomes my issue.  
Svar retrieves Ascalon from where she discarded it and cleans the blood off of its blade. “This is a good sword, but from now on I’m only going to use it against dragons. The lightsaber is better in almost every other situation.” She turns to the rest of us. “I’m going up to talk to check on Paarthurnax and Durnehviir. Are we leaving in the morning?”  
“If everyone is ready then sure.” I reply. “We could wait a day to get ready though.”  
“I believe we are as prepared as we can be.” Serana says.   
I give a questioning look to Valerica, and she nods.  
“Alright then.” I say. “Tomorrow it is.” I turn to the red mess and let out a sigh. “We’ll just have to clean this up when we get back.”  
“Allow me.” Valerica says as she steps forward. She raises her hands, and several of the bodies reconstitute themselves at her command. “I will create new undead and ensure the area is repaired by the morning.”  
“Thank you mother.” Serana says, then turns to Svar. “Finish with the dragons quickly. You are the only one present who truly requires rest.”  
Svar nods, and walks off.  
Serana turns to me, and motions in the direction of our room. “Shall we?”   
I fall into step beside her, and we head to bed.  
Serana cleans the blood off of herself with magic, then lies down next to me. Svar returns to us before too long and does the same.  
We’ll sleep for now, but Potema just declared war on us. We won’t be the ones to regret that fact.  
Tomorrow.

Interlude: Potema

We have been travelling for three days.  
Longer than I would have hoped, but my Crone is still recovering from her punishment.   
It seems to have been worth it at least. She now carries out my orders with no hesitation, and is almost eager to please me. Time will tell if the conditioning will fade over time or if it is permanent, but for now it will do.   
We have arrived after all.  
I look out from my place at the shore and stare off into the ever changing mists. To anyone with any magical ability it is apparent this place is protected by a powerful enchantment, but it has somehow remained undisturbed all this time.  
A small smile makes its way onto my face.  
It may very well be that all who discover it are killed viciously.  
I turned to the four guards who accompanied my Crone and I. “You will remain here until we return. Do not follow us.”  
The four immediately bow in acknowledgement, and I walk forward. My Crone at my side.  
We mount the rickety boat, and my Crone begins to paddle us out into the water.  
“Which way?” She asks.  
I point directly ahead, and she follows my direction.  
I’m not sure how long we spent in that mist. Likely part of the enchantment affects one's perception of time, but we did make it through.  
It was quite amusing to watch my Crone’s eyes widen when the castle was revealed.   
Looking at it myself, I can truly say it is an impressive structure. Even the Blue Palace is not as eye-catching as this lonely castle to the north of Skyrim.  
My Crone brings the boat to a small dock, and we disembark.  
I lead her across the gargoyle adorned bridge until our path is barred by an iron gate.  
“You’re not welcome here.” An elderly voice calls from behind the gate. “Leave now.”  
“I may not have an invitation, but I am an old friend and I will not leave. Tell your master the Wolf has returned.”  
I hear a sceptical snort from the other side, but the man walks off. Presumably to do as I ordered.  
“What is this place?” My Crone asks once we are alone.  
“The home to powerful beings who were ancient even during my time.” My answer causes her eyes to go wide.  
She moves to ask another question, but she is interrupted by the iron gate being drawn up.  
“You are to proceed inside.” The same voice says. “Don’t try anything.”  
I chuckle as I walk past him.  
He underestimates my sense of self preservation. Only a fool would attempt anything within these walls.  
My Crone and I enter the keep and find ourselves at a balcony overlooking a grand room. There are two long tables set parallel to one-another. At each table sit well dressed men and women with red eyes, and calculating gazes.   
Atop the tables, where one would usually find wines, bread, and venison, there are instead people. Living people. They have several puncture wounds along their arms and legs, and they groan softly.  
I ignore all of this. My eyes focus on an imposing man standing at the head of both tables. He has flowing black hair, and a well trimmed chin beard. He has angular features, and deep crimson eyes.  
I smile once I see him, and begin walking down the steps to greet him.  
“My guardsmen said something quite interesting to me.” The man speaks out. His voice filled the room in its entirety. “His words could mean two quite different things. Both of which are equally impossible. Either a werewolf has not only discovered my location, but also traversed my island's mist, or a woman has risen from the grave after over two hundred years.”  
I come to a stop at a healthy seven paces from him. I feel the eyes of everyone in the room on me as I speak. “Hello Harkon. It has been quite some time.”  
His lips pull up into a wide grin. “Potema. How good it is to see you again.”


	22. 22

Svar and I patiently stand guard while Serana and Valerica both meditate under the shade of a nearby tree. They’ve been unresponsive for a few minutes now, but they assured me they would be fine. They’re the necromancy experts, so I’ll take their word for it, but I am starting to get a little anxious. Svar doesn’t seem to be doing any better if the way she is clipping and unclipping her lightsaber to her belt is anything to go by.  
The four of us are currently in a small grove around five miles west of Morthal. After the attack, we didn’t really have much we needed to prepare, and we decided it was best we move quickly so no search parties were sent to check in on the sizable force we dispatched.  
It took us a few days to get here, but only because we were trying to avoid unwanted attention. We could have teleported or flown, but we’d lose the element of surprise.  
Right now, Serana and Valerica are using a vast assortment of small undead animals to thoroughly scout the city. While I could theoretically help, I haven’t really worked with my necromancy yet, and we don’t want someone to spot my animals like Potema noticed Serana’s, so Svar and I are standing guard.  
The two Daughters of Coldharbour have been at it for almost five hours by this point, which is why Svar and I are starting to get anxious. Neither of us want to distract them, but just sitting around and waiting is rubbing both of us the wrong way.  
“How much longer do you think?” Svar asks out of the blue.  
I look back at Serana and Valerica, and shrug my shoulders. “There’s no way to know really. They’ll finish when they finish.”  
Svar lets out a sigh. “I just feel so useless right now.”  
I chuckle. “Believe me, I get it, but unless we want to charge the walls right now and render the scouting useless, we can’t really do anything about it.”  
Svar takes a deep breath, then walks up to a nearby tree. She sits down and leans her back up against it. “I just want this to be done with. We finally had a chance to breathe, and then our home was attacked. We just can’t seem to catch a break.”  
I consider her for a moment, then summon Mr. Rogers. I toss him his sword and mentally command him to keep watch while I walk over to sit with Svar. “It does feel that way doesn’t it? Between the portal, Alduin, Harkon, Miraak, the whole fiasco in Whiterun, and now Potema, it feels like we’re in a state of perpetual action.”  
Svar leans her head back against the tree. “That’s about how I feel about it. I just want us to be done with everything so we can do nothing for a year.”  
I raise an eyebrow at her. “I’m having a hard time picturing you doing nothing for a year. You’d be clawing the walls down in a fourth of that time.”  
Svar opens her mouth to refute me, but closes it and shrugs. “You’re probably right, but I would like a break. Maybe not a year long one, but a month or two off would be nice.”  
“I couldn’t agree more.” Guess I’m not the only one who’s feeling the effects of our non-stop bullshit.  
The two of us fall into a companionable silence for a while.  
Mr. Rogers trots along through the snow, and starts patrolling a loose perimeter around us while I look off in the direction of Morthal. I can’t see it through the trees, but I’m just passing time.  
Svar’s right. We went from Helgen, to Whiterun, to Dimhallow, to Sky Haven, to the Soul Cairn, and now we’re going to try and take a city with four people. Things just continue to get more hectic around us.  
Heck, I don’t even know how we’re going to go about taking down the city. If Paarthurnax and Durnheviir had come we would have a much easier time of it, but they’re both back guarding Sky Haven. Paarthurnax said this wasn’t really his fight, and Durnheviir wanted to catch up with his brother.  
So we’re without dragon support, and we want to storm a city. With our powers and gear, it should be doable, but I don’t want us to get overconfident and suffer the consequences for it.  
I guess Mr. Rogers, Svar, and I can create a massive lightning storm over the city to cover everyone. Then I make liberal use of Yamato to take out the walls and any other major defensive fortifications they have set up. We’d still have to deal with their numbers though. I guess Serana and Valerica could try to take control of the undead hordes, but while they’re good, I don’t know if they can beat the sheer number of necromancers we suspect Potema to have.   
Of course we also have to deal with Potema herself. I’m willing to bet that’ll be a bitch and a half, she’s a body snatching necromancer who, in the game, could use master level destruction spells as a ghost. What the hell can she do now that she’s not limited by code? While I think she’d be hard pressed to beat any of us in a fair one on one fight, we’ll be attacking her in her home where she is surrounded by her vast army. There’s nothing fair about that fight. Nevermind the fact that we don’t know how her body snatching works, that’ll be a whole other problem to deal with.  
“What are you thinking about?”   
I turn to see Svar looking at me expectantly.  
“Just tossing around ideas in my head for how to do this.” I respond.  
She chuckles. “It does seem a tad ridiculous doesn’t it?”  
I snort. “How we are seriously considering attacking a city with four people, or how we actually have a decent shot of pulling it off?”  
“Both?”  
The corner of my lip pulls up. “Both works.”  
A shuffling sound draws both of our attention. We look over and find Serana and Valerica awake from their trance, so we both rise and move over to them.  
“You both alright?” I ask.  
I get two nods back, and Serana speaks up. “We are fine, we have good news even. It would seem that illusionist spoke the truth. Potema is not currently within Morthal, so if we strike soon, we will be able to take the city without her there to defend it.”  
“That is good, but it also complicates things.” I say contemplatively.  
Svar raises an eyebrow at me. “How so?”  
“Because we will have to deal with her at a later date.” Valerica answers. “That mage mentioned she was searching for other allies, so she will likely return with a greater fighting force.”  
So we don’t have to worry about Potema if we strike now, but if she comes back while we’re in the middle of our assault then we’ll have a winged hussars in Vienna situation, and we won’t know what the reinforcements are capable of.  
“How many would we be up against if we struck now?” I ask.  
“We could not get an exact headcount, but there are more than three-thousand and less than five-thousand.” Serana says.  
I grasp my chin as I think for a moment. “That should be doable. Between a storm and us sticking together, there shouldn’t be anything that could take us down, but we’ll still need to be careful.”  
“Actually,” Valerica starts, “it might be best if I split away from you three.”  
Svar turns to her. “I know you’re strong, but I don’t think you can take the whole city on your own.”  
Valerica smiles. “I would not be alone.” She reaches within her robe and pulls out the Orb of Death. “I was able to capture vampiric souls inside this orb, and they have gone a long way to feeding it. I could create a single skeletal dragon from the available energy.”  
Ok, that’s pretty OP.  
“So you’d fly around and work as an airborne skirmisher?” I ask.  
Valerica nods. “Yes. I would work to undermine their coordination from the skies. If at all possible, I would ask that your familiar accompany me. From what you have told us of his new capabilities, he would be more than sufficient to assist me should I encounter any surprises.”  
That could work.  
“The only issue I see is that you would be isolated from the rest of us.” Serana says. “If you encounter anything that can power through both the dragon and Mr. Rogers, we would be too far removed to help you.”  
“If it comes to that I will simply teleport away. I am not so prideful as to arrogantly walk to my own death rather than flee.” Valerica assures us.  
“So are we going to go for it?” Svar asks. “Since Potema’s gone now, this will probably be our best chance.”  
I look up at the sky to check the time, and see the sun slowly disappearing behind the mountains. “We should wait until morning, that’ll give Svar a chance to rest. The sun doesn’t hurt anyone here nearly as badly as it does the vampires in Morthal, and while the storm clouds might shield them, I’d rather not strike them at night.”  
“Agreed.” Serana says. “We will wait for the morning.”  
Valerica nods, then walks off to a clearing and begins to meditate.  
The rest of us move off to another clearing, and lay down in a small pile. We decided not to risk a fire, so Svar’s only way to keep warm is other bodies. Vampires are not exactly warm individuals, but with some creative applications of blood magic Serana and I turn ourselves into heaters and lie down on either side of Svar.  
After exchanging good nights, the three of us drift off to sleep.

  
I wake to a light pressure on my shoulder. I open my eyes to see the faintest trace of sunlight peeking through the trees, as well as Svar retracting her hand.  
“We’re getting ready to move.” She says.  
I nod, and sit up. I see Serana and Valerica both already on their feet, and I stand so Svar and I can join them.  
“How long until we attack?” I ask.  
Serana turns to me. “Preferably within the hour. The sun is already over Morthal, and we want to be out of the city before Potema returns with her reinforcements.”  
I nod. “Let’s get ready then.”  
The four of us begin moving at a hurried pace towards the city, and are within sight of it thirty minutes later.  
“This is where we part ways.” Valerica says. “I will need some time to bring the dragon into being, do not attack until you hear its roar.”   
Serana, Svar, and I nod, and I summon Mr. Rogers. I toss him his sword, and look him in the eye. “Watch her back okay bud? And kick some ass!”  
He yips playfully, then follows Valerica as she quickly moves off.  
The rest of us wait in a tense silence for the signal to begin the assault.  
While I’m confident we can pull this off, I can’t help the anxiousness I feel. I have never attempted something this crazy in either of my lives. I’m about to try to assault a city with four people. Sure, we’re four incredibly powerful people, but four is still a pretty damn small number considering our opposition is in the thousands.   
“Are you alright Dusk?” Serana says quietly.  
Huh, must have given myself away somehow.  
“Ya, it’s just starting to sink in that this is actually happening.” I reply.  
“I know.” Svar says. “I’m equal parts excited and hesitant.”  
Just as she finishes her statement, a loud roar makes itself known.

Quest Added  
[The Fall of Morthal!]  
Objective- Successfully take or destroy Morthal  
Bonus Objective- ?  
Bonus Objective- ?  
Bonus Objective- ?  
Rewards- ?, ?  
Bonus Rewards- ?, ?, ?

Showtime.  
Our features harden, as we all start moving.  
“Svar? Storm.” I say.  
She nods, and takes in a deep breath before shouting, “STRUN BAH QO!!!” Svar’s voice is even louder and more oppressive than the roar that we just heard. Dark black clouds begin to appear and cover the sky.  
I raise my hands up and start feeding mana into the storm. While not as fast as it was near Sky Haven, the storm gathers incredibly quickly. It’s not long before brilliant blue bolts of energy begin lancing down into the city.  
“Get ready.” Serana says in a low growl, and begins to change. Her wings emerge, her skin grows paler, and her fangs elongate as she enters her Vampire Lord form. Her necromantic armor settles over her new form, offsetting her pale skin with its sickly green glow.  
Svar changes next. Her white skin making way for black scales, her cloak spreading into her wings.   
I go last. I begin the change into my greater form. I feel my bones snap and reform, stronger than they were previously. My muscles bulge painfully, before going taut, and two leathery wings extend from my back. I coat my entire form in electricity and become a blue beacon in the cloud covered shadows. “Let’s go.” I say in a deep rumble.  
As one, we pounce into the air. Now in the sky, we have a better view of the city and its surroundings. There are several mages in the street throwing spells up at the sky in an attempt to fight the storm, but a large draconic skeleton that trails black shadow swoops down continuously to harry them. An extremely fast spectral hound covering its flanks, and firing lightning into the defenders.  
The three of us make it over the wall, and begin to tear through the defenders. We move as one, and cover each other. Making quick work of the first group we encounter.  
The defenders are caught horribly flat footed. They weren’t prepared to defend their walls, let alone defend against opponents who could simply fly over them.  
The three of us move through the city at an unprecedented speed, tearing through anything in our way. We fly into the sky, then descend upon unsuspecting groups of unorganized vampires and lesser undead like a plague. Ripping limbs from bodies, vaporizing heads with spells, and cutting them apart with swords, saber, and claws.  
The skeletal dragon makes another pass over our heads, and I’m able to make out Valerica cackling like a madwoman from where she sits on the dragon’s shoulders. Mr. Rogers is still orbiting them even as he breaks off to strike at the ground every few moments.  
I turn my attention back to the slaughter and fall in behind Serana as we finish dispatching this group.  
She pulls her fangs from the neck of a now shriveled necromancer, and turns to face us. “There has to be a person Potema left in charge. We need to find and eliminate them.”  
Svar stabs her saber down into a twitching vampire, then looks up at us. “They’ll be near the center of the city. We need to find a palace or a headquarters of a sort.”  
I nod. “Let’s take them down.”  
We fly up once more to get a better viewpoint, and scan the city.   
The first thing I notice is that almost everything is on fire. Between the lightning bolts produced by the storm, and Valerica being liberal with her fire spells, the entire city is illuminated by staggering amounts of orange flame. The vampires are trying to organize themselves in one of the side alleys, but I send a few targeted strikes from the storm and manage to disperse them. Towards the center of the city, there is a large gathering of necromancers and vampires all huddled under a shimmering shield of energy that is able to weather the storm’s fury.   
I point it out to the two women floating at my side. “That looks promising.”  
Serana licks her blade clean and nods. “Let’s kill them.”  
I smile widely at her statement, and the three of us speed towards the shield.  
I think the battle might be affecting my mental state, but I’m having too much fun to care. This is the first major battle I have partaken in and it is exhilarating.   
We reach the shield in seconds and land on the ground.  
“Attack!” Someone shouts, and we are set upon by a well organized defensive force.  
The three of us go back to back, and begin fighting for our lives. Svar alters the ground into deadly traps, shouts out with Fire Breath, and cuts down anything that gets close with her lightsaber. Serana fires ice from her off hand while she becomes a steel whirlwind with her blade, her usual mastery of the weapon amplified by her Vampire Lord form. For my part, I take several long horizontal slashes with Yamato that do an amazing job of reducing the enemy’s numbers. As each swing moves back and forth, I channel lightning through the blade, and several bolts shoot out its tip. Blasting anything that manages to avoid the slashes themselves.  
This goes on for so long that I lose track of time. The defenders must have used the time they had while we were aimlessly slaughtering our way through the city to fortify this one location, and it shows. There are veritable swarms of vampires, mages, and other lesser undead to contend with, but we haven’t fallen yet.  
Each time one of us is in any danger, the other two cover them. We operate like a well oiled machine that brings only death.  
Occasionally the dragon would swoop by, it and Mr. Rogers took chunks out of the defensive line with each pass, but for the most part it was just the three of us and the lightning storm, which I directed into anyone who seemed to be coordinating the troops. Further driving the defenders into a mob of uncoordinated lemmings.  
It was beautiful.  
Between my blade and lightning control, Svar’s shouts and lightsaber, and Serana’s pure speed, skill, and power, they couldn’t touch us. Despite their numbers, they were losing, and they knew it.  
After witnessing our display for so long, the smarter mages and vampires began to run away from us rather than towards us. As more and more followed their example, we switched our tactics from defense to offense.   
We pushed through the dismembered corpses and blood filled street to pursue the cowards. Running them down, and then tearing them apart.   
Soon, we had reached the very center of the city. There was a large stone palace that seemed to be what the vampires were fleeing to, so the three of us slaughtered our way to that.  
I cut through the nearest vampire, and she screamed in agony as she fell. I then looked up to study the palace.  
The mages and vampires that managed to flee, the lesser undead being sent towards us as fodder to buy time, had gathered together on the steps behind a single man. The man had black skin, and was wearing a light blue mages robe with his arms crossed across his chest. When he looked up to meet my gaze, he revealed blood red eyes.  
This man had confidence, or at least was feigning it, and all of the defenders had taken up positions to support him.  
“We found the leader.” I said with a bloodsoaked grin.  
“He seems confident.” Svar observes as she steps up beside me.  
Serana inhales deeply through her nose, then focuses on the man. “He is powerful. Not so powerful as us, but strong in his own right. He is yours Dusk, drain him. Svarline and I will deal with the others.”  
I nod to her in thanks, then begin walking forward. The man, no, the vampire holds my gaze as I slowly close the distance to him.  
I smirk as a thought occurs to me.  
I just fought my way through an entire city of undead, so I might as well go full anime antagonist and have a nice chat with the man I’m about to kill.  
“Who might you be?” I ask jovially.  
He uncrosses his arms, and begins walking towards me. “I’m a mage.” He says.  
I raise a mocking eyebrow. “In those robes? I had you pegged for a priest. No, I was more concerned with how you came to be a vampire. Potema offer you riches untold?”  
He scowls as he keeps advancing. “I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter.”  
Serana and Svar pass me and begin walking in a wide arc around the man. The defenders behind him group together as they realize they are my love's targets.  
“Well, you have my sympathies, but I’m afraid I have to kill you now.” I say as I come within fifteen feet of the man.  
He grunts at me. “Good. I’ve been waiting for this.”  
The truth behind those words gives me pause. He actually wants to die. Why?  
I give him another look over, and his face sparks a memory or two. “Would your name happen to be Falion?”  
He freezes, obviously surprised. “You know me?”  
I smile sadly. “Yes. Don’t worry Falion, I’ll set you free.”  
Not sure how she did it, but Potema managed to force one of the leading experts on vampires to become her own personal bitch. It’s a shame too, I always kinda liked this guy. Best thing I can do now is end him.  
Without saying another word, I charge him. I lash out with Yamato, but a swirling violet portal swallows him, leaving a floating woman made of fire in his place.  
Huh, I was wondering why I hadn’t seen any Flame Atronachs yet.

Flame Thrall  
Level- 317  
Tier- Immortal  
HP- 37,424

Thrall?! Oh shit, he’s the master conjuration trainer isn’t he? This might actually be difficult.  
I finish my swing, and bring Yamato through the flaming woman. Her form splits apart with the swing, and simply reforms.  
Oh not this shit again.  
I inventory Yamato and channel an absurd amount of mana into the sky, and call down a massive lightning bolt.  
The woman shrieks in pain, and slowly begins to shiver away.  
Being the well practiced Skyrim/ESO player I am, I teleport away just in time to avoid the explosion. I pay it no mind, focusing instead on my soul sense as I try to figure out where Falion went.  
...He’s gone. He’s just not here any more. What the actual hell?  
I feel a pulse of mana, and turn to see three more portals opening. Another Flame Thrall emerges from each one, but there is still no sign of Falion.  
I summon more lightning to vaporize these three, and keep up my search.  
I can’t find him. I can’t get a ping with my soul magic, with my electromancy, or with my vampiric senses. The man is just gone.  
Serana and Svar continue to tear through the rest of the defenders while I try to locate Falion.  
I feel another pulse of magic, and turn to see five portals open. Each one transporting yet another Flame Thrall, but that’s not what catches my attention. While the portals were open, I felt Falion through my soul magic. It was only there for a second, but I felt him.  
Mr. Rogers makes a flyby and takes out the thralls for me while I try to figure out what that meant.  
I could feel him through the portal, but not here. Did he teleport to the other side of Nirn?   
More portals open, and this time I’m fast enough to catch a glimpse through. Around one of the eleven Flame Thralls that appear, I catch a glimpse of Falion. He is standing in an ever shifting void of white and black clouds. A void that I’ve seen before.  
There was a hidden boss you could fight in Skyrim at the end of Shalidor’s maze. It was a dremora of some sort, but that’s not the important part. What is, is that the dremora had its own personal plane of Oblivion you had to fight it in. It wasn’t very large, but that it existed at all was an extremely impressive feat. The wispy clouds around Falion look exactly like what the barriers of that plane looked like.  
The mother fucker made a god damned Oblivion plane. How the fuck am I supposed to get in there?!  
The Flame Thralls start advancing, but Serana and Svar collide with them, having finished up with the fodder.  
“Where is he?” Serana calls as she blankets three of the Thralls in ice.  
“In Oblivion. Buy me some time!” I call back.  
More portals open, and I try to teleport through one of them, but something blocks my teleportation.  
That’s never happened before. What the hell?  
I try again when even more open, the courtyard now full of Flame Thralls, but I’m blocked again. I catch sight of Falion once more with his hand up.  
Bastard blocked my teleportation!  
Mr. Rogers and the skeletal dragon both arrive and both they and Valerica begin to lay into the Flame Thralls.  
Think Dusk! Think!  
How the hell am I supposed to get through to him if I can’t make it through his portal? I’m not a damn planeswalker! I don’t have anything that can let me pass through dimensio…   
Will that work?  
More portals open around me, and I quickly act.  
I pull Yamato from my inventory, and grip the hilt.  
Here goes nothing.  
I hold the sword in front of me, and picture the plane I glimpsed Falion on. I then slowly bring the sword down, willing it to cut. I then hold it horizontally, and do the same thing.  
Two tears in reality open in front of me, and spread into one another. The two slashes open up into a window, and I can see a very shocked Falion through it.  
Not willing to give him any time, I activate Godspeed and use it and my Vampire Lord speed combined to close the gap in moments, quickly sinking my fangs into the mage.  
He tries to fight back, but I keep him in a death grip. His struggles start to slow as I keep drinking, until they cease entirely. “Thank…. you.” He says weakly.

You have drained a powerful creature!  
Vampiric ability [Spawn] acquired!  
Spawn  
Can create pools of blood to use in spawning various types of minions.

Conjuration affinity gained!

Perk [King’s Realm] added!  
King’s Realm  
Any plane you create will be locked to those you do not want within it, and you will have greater control over such planes.

Quest Complete  
[The Fall of Morthal!]  
Objective- Successfully take or destroy Morthal  
Bonus Objective- Defeat Falion  
Bonus Objective- Breach Falion’s Plane  
Bonus Objective- Drain Falion  
Rewards- 2 Gacha Coins, Morthal  
Bonus Rewards- 2 Gacha Coins, A gift from an interested party, [King’s Realm]

Level up x43  
Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 357  
Class- Illusionist - LVL 59/100 [52%]  
Crafting Class- N/A [0%]  
Race- Vampire Lord  
Tier- Immortal  
Alignment- True Neutral  
HP- 22020 [13212 per minute]  
MP- 35520 [26640 per minute]  
SP- 22020 [13212 per minute]  
STR- 1174  
END- 1101  
DEX - 1000  
INT - 1776  
WIS - 1776  
CHA - 1068  
LUK - 784  
MP Regen= WIS x 15  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 12  
SP/HP= END x 20

For Reaching 700 CHA you have gained a perk!   
Delightful  
Talking to you is an experience that people would pay money to experience

For Reaching 800 CHA you have gained a perk!  
Pals  
Anyone who’s friendship you earn, will never be lost unless you intentionally wrong them in a major way

For Reaching 900 CHA you have gained a perk!  
Advisor  
Powerful people will see you as trustworthy, and give you far more say than you deserve

For reaching 1000 CHA you have gained a perk!  
I Roll to Seduce the Dragon  
Things that should be unable to happen can be forced to happen by your power of personality

I take a deep breath, and drop Falion’s corpse to the ground.  
Sorry it had to be this way, I actually really liked you man.  
I leave him on the ground of his realm and walk back through the hole in reality I created with Yamato. When I emerge, I see Svar and Serana have changed back to normal, and they along with Valerica are staring at the tear in reality. The bodies of dozens of Flame Thralls smoldering around them.  
Svar is the first to find her voice. “Since when could you do that?”  
I look at it over my shoulder, then shrug. “Fifteen seconds ago.”  
Valerica turns to me with wide eyes. “You learned how to bridge planes not moments ago?”  
I nod, and hold up Yamato. “Told you this thing could cut through anything.”  
“And it’s about time you yourself remembered that.” A familiar bone chilling voice says.  
Serana and Svar both instantly change back into their combat forms, and shadows begin spilling off of Valerica.  
I mechanically turn to greet my guest.  
Standing there with a wide smile on his face, amidst a sea of blood and shredded corpses, stands none other than Gaunter O’Dimm. “Bravo Dusk! What a show!” He slowly claps his hands.  
“What are you doing here?” Svar growls at him.  
The entity turns his grin upon her. “Nothing nefarious I assure you, I’m merely here to encourage this type of behavior. To that end,” He turns to me and holds out his hand. “a gift!” A green flash of light emanates from his hand, and leaves a small cube in its wake. He holds it up to me with a warm smile. “This should help you get the hang of things fairly safely. If there is a mishap, simply push the button with the recognizable emblem, and you will be returned unharmed.”  
Realizing refusing this ‘gift’ will only piss him off, I slowly step forward. I pick the cube up and take a better look at it.  
It’s made of a robust metal, and each face has a button on it. One has the symbol of the Imperials, and Skyrim the game, another has a bunch of tentacles, another shows a boat, another shows two swords that look remarkably similar to the blades of chaos, another shows a star, and the last shows a wolf head medallion.   
Starting to grow suspicious of this thing, I Observe it.

Cubic Gate  
Legendary Item  
This cube allows the user to travel to six pre-coded planes of existence by pushing the associated button.

I swallow heavily, and look up at O’Dimm. “Thank you, but you’ll forgive me if I believe there’s an ulterior motive for this.”  
He throws his head back and laughs jovially. “Of course there is! I’m sure you’ve already realized it, but now when I call in that favor you’ll have no excuse to delay. Don’t worry, you’ve still a while yet, but I thought it best to prepare you regardless.”  
“Thank you for the box, now please leave.” Serana says coldly.  
He looks at her with a grin, then turns back to me. “It would seem I have worn out my welcome. I look forward to our next meeting, Dusk!”  
He’s gone the next moment.  
The four of us remain tense for a number of minutes, before we slowly start to relax once again.  
“That really soured the mood.” I say.  
“No kidding.” Svar replies.  
Serana shakes her head. “We will deal with him when the time comes to deal with him, until that time, it’s a waste of effort to concern ourselves with him.”  
I close my eyes, and take a deep breath. I look up at Serana and say, “You’re right. Let’s finish up here then teleport home.”  
The next hour or so sees us gathering up the more intact bodies, the usable weapons, and anything enchanted and throwing it in my inventory. Even with Gaunter’s visit souring things, we’re all still high off the battle craze. It’s not every day you take a city filled with thousands of vampires with a four man force after all.  
Once we have more bodies than we’ll ever need, we teleport back to Sky Haven.  
“I will see you three later. I now have a city’s worth of souls to play with.” Valerica says with a manic grin, then walks off with her Orb of Death.   
Svar, Serana, and I head to our room, clean ourselves with magic, and cuddle.  
What better way to end a day of slaughter than in the arms of those who were by your side during it?  
Yep. I definitely have issues.

  
Interlude: A sweet, innocent, little girl.

  
Walking through the streets of Markarth has become so boring. Everyone hides in their homes because the big bad dragons might come to get them. There isn’t even a reason why our family has to live in the undercity any more, no one would notice us anyway, but we like it down there. There’s actually something to do, even if it’s just killing Falmer.  
I walk up to the door I was summoned to, when a guard begins walking up behind me.  
I grin as I reach into the pouch at my side and turn around. “Hi Guard lady!” I wave my whole arm at her and run up to her. I tilt my head back to meet her gaze, then hold up the flower I pulled from my pouch. “Here! It’s pretty! Just like your hair!”  
The guard’s suspicious expression melts into one of complete adoration. She kneels down and pats me on the head. “Thank you sweetie, but you should get home soon. You don’t want your parents to worry do you?”  
I over exaggerate a head shaking motion, forcing my hair to wap back in forth uncontrollably.  
The guardswoman chuckles and stands. “Alright then. Get on home.”  
“Ok!” I bounce up and down on my toes and wave at her again. “Bye pretty lady!” I turn around and start skipping away.  
I wait until I hear the guard walk past, before I move back to the door.  
It is fearfully easy to manipulate people when you’re cute. It’s a wonder children aren’t the ones ruling the world.  
I easily push the sturdy metal door open, and walk into the trashed home.  
I would clean this place up, but he likes it messy for some reason. Oh well, it is his house.  
I walk to the caved in wall, and start walking down the roughly carved stone tunnel. After a few twists and turns, I arrive at a truly beautiful sight.  
There is a pitch black altar covered in spikes, with a demon’s head at the top. Directly below the head is a large bowl filled with blood. 

You are late.

I shiver as the deep voice resonates throughout the small cave. Such power!  
I scratch the back of my head cutely. “Sorry, I had to avoid the guards.”

No matter. I have a task for you.

I lean forward expectantly as I await my orders.

An upstart woman I took to bed some thousand years ago has started stealing that which is mine. This cannot be allowed to stand. Journey to what remains of Morthal and pick up her scent. With the amount of my souls she stole, there should be evidence left of where she ran to. Take your ‘family’ or not. I don’t care. But do not fail me.

The voice fades, and I break out into a beautiful smile.  
My first mission! We’ve been sitting here for months with nothing to do, but now we get to go kill again!  
I skip over to an ornamental stand on the side of the altar, and pick up my right as his champion.  
The large, jagged mace glows bright red in approval as I pick it up.  
This is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait!


	23. 23

The next morning the four of us gathered together to eat/drink breakfast. Well, the humanoids did. Mr. Rogers trotted off with his sword somewhere.  
“What is our next move?” Valerica asks the table. “I am aware Svarline and Dusk wanted to deal with some individuals in Whiterun, but I believe it would be best to prepare for Potema’s retaliation. She will not take this assault lying down.”  
“No, she won’t.” Serana agrees. “I don’t know what allies she went to retrieve, but it would be safe to assume they are at least as capable as the ones we just defeated. Likely more so if she intended to escalate her attacks after failing to take Solitude.”  
“So what do we do?” I ask. “Aside from making a sea of undead, there’s not much we can do to fortify this place. I’ve already set up a bunch of wards, and we’re in a mountain. That’s about as physically fortified as you can get.”  
Svar looks over at me. “Do you know of anything we could use to make this place safer? You knew where the Elder Scrolls and Staff of Magnus were, is there anything else we could use?”  
I sit back in my chair to think.   
Most notable items in Skyrim are Daedric Artifacts, and I want to avoid messing with those for obvious reasons. She mentioned the Staff, there is the Eye…  
“Potentially, but I don’t know how we’d move the damn thing, and it’s going to bring a lot of attention down on us.”  
Serana looks intrigued. “What is it?”  
I pull the Staff from my inventory and put it on the table. “This thing’s older cousin. Not sure if any of you have heard of the Eye of Magnus, but it’s essentially a giant ball of concentrated mana. Not sure what all we could use it for to be honest, the one guy I know of who messed with it didn’t have much imagination. He made a sparkly shield, and was immune to magic while near it, but again, he wasn’t exactly smart with how he used the thing.”  
Valerica picks up the Staff and stares into the orb atop it. “I have heard of the Eye, but I do not know what it is capable of either. While I would certainly like for us to retrieve it, a weapon we don’t understand could be more deadly than having no weapon at all.” She puts the Staff back down.  
I shrug. “So long as the College mages aren’t in the area, it shouldn’t be too hard to retrieve it, but I’m of the same mind. I’d rather us have something we know how to use.”  
Svar turns to Valerica. “Ok, so what about that orb? You used it before we attacked the city, so you’ve obviously got some idea what to do with it. Can you do anything with the souls from Morthal?”  
Valerica turns to her. “I’m sure there is something I could do, but I haven’t found it yet. The orb has never had access to this many souls before, let alone souls of such power. We are currently working to make use of them.”  
The orb has never had this many souls. So we have no idea what it’s capable of right now?  
“Be careful with that thing.” I caution. “If this is really the first time it’s had this much power, it might decide it doesn’t need you anymore.”  
Valerica nods seriously. “I have already taken that into account. Before I began to utilize its power, I bound it to myself using a few tricks I picked up in the Soul Cairn. As it was awed by my strength, it did not resist. It belongs to me now.”  
Ok, that is equal parts terrifying and badass. Don’t fuck with mama vamp.  
“So long as you’ve got a handle on it I’m happy.” I turn back to the table. “Any other ideas?”  
Serana looks at me. “What of your ability to retrieve items? We did just destroy a city, I would imagine that would grant you a number of uses.”  
I nod. “I’ve actually got seven at the moment. You think we should start with that?”  
“I’d say yes.” Svar answers. “There’s not really a reason not to.”  
I shrug. She’s right. Might as well.

Item Added  
A Belt Buckle  
Use this belt buckle to secure your belt  
(Belt not included)

I hold up the simple square that might as well be scrap metal.  
“What’s that?” Svar asks.  
“A belt buckle.” I deadpan back.  
Serana chuckles. “I suppose we could place it on the ground in the hopes that someone slips on it. We are already making progress in defending our home.”  
I turn to her, and see a good natured smile on her face.  
“Might as well try it.” I say. “There’s nothing else this thing will be good for.”  
“One down.” Svar says.  
Taking the que, I use the second coin.

Item Added  
The ‘F’ Key  
This ‘F’ key was pulled off a keyboard. You will need to find a keyboard before you can make use of this ‘F’

“Oh fuck you and the horse you rode in on.” I say aloud as I throw the thing down on the table.  
Serana reaches a hand out and picks the key up. “F?” She asks. “What is the significance of this? It’s just a letter?”  
I sigh and wace her off. “It’s a joke from another universe. It was used to ‘pay respects’ or give condolences for something.”   
How am I supposed to explain a Modern Warfare meme that was inherited by the larger internet to a bunch of people who have never seen a calculator?  
“It’s not bad though?” Svar asks.  
I chuckle. “No, it’s not going to kill us. It’s just a stupid joke.”  
“I must say this is interesting.” Valerica breaks in with a smile on her face. “I have never seen such a simple symbol elicit such a reaction before.”  
“Glad I could give the immortal vampiress a new experience. Let’s hope the next thing’s better.”

Item Added  
Belt of Beard Growth  
The wearer of this belt shall grow a full beard by every new dawn.

I stare at the strip of leather in front of me through half lidded eyes.  
Seriously? Can I get something useful please?  
“Oh look!” Svar says. “We can use the belt buckle now! So, what does it do?”  
“Anyone who wears it will grow a beard every morning.” I say blandly.  
There’s a moment of silence as everyone comprehends that.  
“That has to be one of the most useless enchantments I have ever seen.” Serana says as she picks up the belt. “Does anyone have a use for this, or can I use it as a battery.”  
“Feel free.” I say.  
When no one else objects, she tucks it away into her robe, and I use the next coin.

Item Added  
A Toe  
This severed toe once belonged to a human. It now belongs to you.

I lightly slam my head down onto the table.  
“What?” Svar asks. “What did you get?”  
Without moving, I hold my hand up.  
“Is that…”  
“A severed toe?” I cut Serana off. “Yes. Yes it is.”  
I hear a chuckle, and turn to look at Svar. She holds my gaze for a moment, then bursts out laughing.  
I let out a long sigh, and wait for her to get herself under control.  
This is turning out to be a very fruitful endeavor. I’m so glad these things are quest rewards, there’s absolutely nothing I could want more.  
By the time Svar gets herself under control, both Serana and Valerica are also grinning widely at me.  
Whatever, I’ve only got two left. Let’s get this over with.

Item Added  
Bag of Holding  
This satchel opens into a pocket dimension that is 64 cubic feet. So long as something fits completely within the bag, the bag can hold it

Much better than a freaking toe, but also kind of useless because of my inventory.  
“Anyone want a personal pocket dimension?” I ask, holding the bag up. “I already have one, and that’s exactly what this is, except mine is much larger.”  
Valerica shakes her head. “I do not have many possessions, and thus have no use for it.”  
Serana nods. “I do not require it either.” She turns to Svar. “Svarline?”  
“Mine.” She grabs it, and starts messing around with it.  
She drops Ascalon in, then shoves her head inside to look. “Cool.” She says. She pulls a Marry Poppins and shoves her entire arm into the small bag.  
“Glad you like it, just don’t trap yourself in there. It has very little air.” I warn.  
She nods, and I use the next coin.

Item Added  
#2 Pencil  
This graphite based #2 pencil is the standard testing implement used by students in the USA

Without a second’s hesitation I snap the small yellow stick that appears in my hand.  
Fuck these things. Seriously.  
“Another joke?” Serana asks with a smile on her face.  
“Yep.” I don’t elaborate.

Item Added  
Blinded Sharingan  
These eyes once belonged to an Uchiha who had unlocked their Mangekyou. They used their abilities too much however, and went blind. Rendering their eyes useless.

I look at the two blank orbs, and toss them in my inventory.  
At this point, I’m not even mad. I expect shit like this. Besides, I might be able to use them in some sort of ritual.  
“What were those?” Serana asks curiously.  
“Blind eyeballs. They used to have powerful abilities tied to them, but the power got used up. We might be able to use them some other way.” I reply.  
“Nothing overly helpful then.” Valerica concludes.  
I shake my head. “It was a good idea, but sadly nothing came of it. I’m just glad we didn’t get anything bad.”  
Svar raises an eyebrow. “You can get bad things?”  
I shrug. “Probably. I got the Orb of Death after all. Even if Valerica’s found a way to use it, it was still something I definitely didn’t want. Any other ideas?”  
There’s a long pause, then Serana speaks. “What of the item the demon gave you?”  
The mostly jovial mood cultivated by the bullshit gacha dissolves.  
I pull out the cube and gingerly set it on the table next to the Staff, being very careful not to push any of the buttons.  
“It’s a Cubic Gate.” I say while staring at the thing. “It opens a portal to any of six pre-coded planes, the buttons on each face are how you select each plane.”  
“Do you know where any of these will take us?” Serana asks as she stands to inspect the cube, but not touch it.  
I gingerly pick it back up, and start rotating it around. “This,” I point to the Imperial’s symbol. “will bring us back here. This,” I point to the two swords. “is a place I never want to go to. It’s the home of a pissed off, insanely powerful God that spends his time killing other Gods. This,” I point to the medallion. “will take us to O’Dimm’s home, so let’s not push that one just yet. The rest I have no idea about.”  
The tentacles can be anything from Cthulhu to a hentai universe, the boat can be literally anything with water, and the star can be anything with stars. Not much to go off of.  
“Regardless,” I continue. “this thing won’t help us against Potema.” I place it and the Staff back in my inventory.  
“We should have some time before she gets back right? We don’t have to worry about this right this second.” Svar says.  
“That is true.” Serana agrees. “I believe it would be best if we take some time to ourselves.”  
“What about the Eye?” I break in. “If we’re going to grab that we should do it soon.”  
We don’t know if the College is in Saarthal right now, so the longer we wait, the more likely they are to take it.  
“Relax Dusk. We just destroyed a city. I believe we’ve earned a small reprieve.” Serana says. “Ah, that reminds me.” She reaches into her robe, and pulls out a book. “I recall you searching for something like this within Sky Haven’s library, I was able to find this in that Wizard’s home in Morthal while you were storing corpses.” She holds the tome out to me.  
I take it and observe it.

Golem Crafting  
Grants the [Golem Crafter] Crafting Class.

I use the book immediately, and it turns to dust.

Golem Crafter  
Create semi-sentient elemental guardians  
Grants 1 INT, and 1 WIS per level

I haven’t been able to find a crafting class for awhile.  
“Thanks Serana.” I say  
“You’re welcome.”  
Svar stands up, and stretches a bit. “I’m going to go talk to Paarthurnax and Durnheviir, let ‘em know what happened and that we might have a pissed off Potema show up eventually.”  
“I, too, have work to do.” Valerica says as she stands. “I will see if I am able to accomplish anything with the orb, if I am, I will inform you of my progress.” She leaves the room.  
I stand as well. “I don’t have any items that can help us defend this place, but I did have a bit of a breakthrough after I drained Falion. I’m gonna play around with that to see if I can do anything fun with it.”  
Serana nods, and joins Svar and I in standing. “Then I suppose I shall get to work recreating our undead army. Could you give me a substantial number of the corpses you retrieved, Dusk?”  
While Svar heads up to meet with the dragons, I give Serana well over two hundred bodies to play with. We killed a lot of people in Morthal.  
She offered to help me with my necromancy, but I told her I wanted to try my other thing first. She said the offer was open, and got to work.  
Meanwhile, I found an as yet unused room in Sky Haven and pulled a few bodies out of my inventory.  
I pulled Yamato out next, and shoved it into the stone at an angle. I cut through the stone in a circle, and then pulled the cut up pieces of rock out and shoved them in my inventory because I lacked anything better to do with them. A large circular hole was left in the ground when I was done.  
I think I’m doing this right…   
I pull the corpses over, and cut them open even more than they already were. Collecting their blood into the hole in the stone. I keep pulling bodies from my inventory until the pit is full of blood, then shove them all back in my inventory.  
Ok, now what?  
I look over the ability to see if it’ll give me any clues.

Spawn  
Can create pools of blood to use in spawning various types of minions.

I guess I just think about creating something?  
I hold my hand over the pool, and force some mana down into it.  
The blood begins to bubble, and a shape begins to form from it.   
Realizing I’m doing something right, I push more mana into the pool, and the shape becomes more pronounced.  
I keep feeding mana into the blood, and a small creature emerges from the pool with a hiss.  
It comes up to my thigh, and is a wild brown in coloring. It has two long bat-like ears, and two rows of jagged teeth. It’s legs are stubby, and its arms have an overabundance of skin that falls into a shape that’s almost winglike.  
The creature stumbles around for a bit, before its eyes fall on me. It scurries over and bows at my feet.  
Ok, this is either really cool, or really weird, and I can’t tell which one it is.  
I look over the small… thing, and take a look at the pool. Where before it was full, it’s now slightly drained.   
I guess it uses up blood whenever it makes one of these things. Is this all it can do?  
I hold my hand over the pool once more, and channel a large amount of mana into it, this time thinking about something bigger.  
What emerges this time is much larger, and the pool drains significantly.  
The creature’s head is three times the size of mine, and it is a cool grey in color. It’s shoulders are large and hunched, and it has skin that is coarse and tough. Its arms are two long appendages that end in a clawed hand, and its legs are, while small, heavily muscled. The thing ends up looking like a mishaped gorilla that had a kid with a troll.  
So this is really weird. Also really cool. I have no idea what to do with these guys.  
I end up making two more variations once I figure out what I’m doing. One is just a carbon copy of the gargoyles from the game with the added ability to actually fly with their wings, and the second were a strange dire wolf vampire hybrid thing. They had sharp teeth, so that’s good enough.  
I drain a lot of the bodies left in my inventory to make a shit load more of each of them, and begin walking towards where I feel Serana’s soul.  
She turns as I enter the armory she’s currently equipping undead in, and her eyes drift behind me.  
“Are you aware there are dozens of abominations following behind you?” She asks mirthfully.  
“Yep, do you have any abilities like this, or is it just me?”  
She walks up to one of the smaller ones, Imps I’ve decided to call them, and begins prodding it. The thing flinches away at her poking, then screeches at her, but she just stares at it. The thing shrivels in on itself, and then lets Serana inspect it.  
She stands up, and walks back over to me. “I must say, I have never seen anything like them. It would appear you have discovered your first unique vampiric trait, and it seems to be a strong one.”  
I sigh. “So no help on the strange new vampiric ability front?”  
She nods. “I am sorry I cannot be more help, but I cannot be more help.”  
I look back over my ‘spawn’ and cringe a little. They’re all clawing, hissing at, and biting one another.  
I really don’t want to have to deal with this. I had fun making all of them, but now that they’re all here, I’ll need to constantly keep them in line, and that seems like a pain in the ass.  
A cheery bark draws my attention as Mr. Rogers trots in.  
I smile, and reach down to pet him. “Hey boy. How’s my best doggy?”  
He pants and tilts his head, offering up his ear so I can scratch it.  
One of the second spawn I made, which I’ve decided to call Hunchbacks, walks up to Mr. Rogers, and stares down at him. It lets out a high pitched shriek right in his face, and I get ready to blast the thing to hell.  
No one fucks with my dog!  
It turns out, I don’t have to. Mr. Rogers starts sparking and growls menacingly at the Hunchback. The larger creature staggers back, and shrinks in on itself.  
Mr. Rogers looks over the rest of the group, and all the spawn turn in fear from his gaze. The gargoyles, Imps, Dire Wolves, and Hunchbacks all seem terrified of my ghost pup.  
In that moment, I get a stupid idea that is so stupid it’s almost smart.  
“Hey Mr. Rogers.” He looks up expectantly. “Do you want an army of scary monsters at your beck and call?”  
He tilts his head as if thinking about it, then barks and bobs his head up and down.  
Perfect! Now I don’t have to deal with them.  
I turn back to the monsters and say, “Mr. Rogers is now your commander. You will follow any order he gives you as if it was my own. Am I understood?” The grotesque things all nod fearfully.  
Mr. Rogers barks loudly, and begins walking from the room. The spawn all start to lumber after him.  
That takes care of that.  
I turn back around and find Serana staring at me with barely contained amusement.  
“What?” I ask.  
She shakes her head. “You just gave command of never before seen vampiric demons to a dog, and the dog responded as if he was born to the role. It’s just amusing.”  
I shrug. “What can I say? He really is the best dog. Anyway, now that I’ve figured that ability out, are you still willing to help me with necromancy?”  
She nods, and the two of us dive into the unnatural art of manipulating death.

Interlude: A good boy

  
The lightning coated dog barks once more, and his soldiers do another push-up.  
The dog’s master will soon face the horrid wrong woman, and these soldiers will not be a weakness to be exploited.   
The dog barks, and the monsters do another push-up.  
The master’s vampire mate seemed amused at the prospect of the lightning dog receiving control of this fighting force, but the lightning dog will prove to her that the master’s trust was well placed.  
The dog lets out several barks, and the monsters stand and begin to run in circles around the massive chamber.  
The master will have his fighting force, and it will be the greatest that has ever been seen!  
The dog barks loudly, and the monsters begin to run faster.  
The dog idly wonders when the dragon mate and vampiric mate will make little masters, and if the little masters will need their own dogs.  
The dog barks twice, and two Dire Wolves speed over while the rest of the spawn keep running around the large chamber.  
The dog inspects the Dire Wolves, then nods at them. These two will do. The dog gathers the lightning granted to him by his master, and channels it directly into the two wolves in front of him.  
The Dire Wolves mewl in pain, but endure the savage storm. Once the torrent stops, the Dire Wolves stand taller, and revel in the feeling of lightning coursing through their unnatural veins.  
The ghost dog bobs his head up and down in approval. Yes, these two will do. The ghost dog begins making plans to train them, so they are ready when the little masters need them.  
The ghost pup reaches behind him, and tosses two swords forward, one to each Dire Wolf. They will need to learn the art of the bite sword if they are to properly protect the little masters when they arrive.  
The ghost dog looks back towards his lollygagging troops, and barks loudly.  
The spawn double their pace, and continue to speed around the chamber.  
The ghost dog hangs his head sadly. These soldiers have a long way to go, but the master is counting on the ghost dog, so the ghost dog will deliver.  
The ghost dog continues to bark, and the spawn have to resist the urge to groan in protest as the orders get progressively harder.  
The master will have his army.


	24. 24

Necromancy, unsurprisingly, is a lot like soul magic. They’re not exactly the same, but they are similar enough that I’m progressing faster than I had expected to.   
That said, I’m still the worst necromancer in Sky Haven. Even Svar’s better than I am from her lessons with Durnehviir.   
Svar joined Serana and I a little into my lessons, and started helping me out. While her mastery is focused on the thu’um, she still picked up a lot of practical knowledge from her dragon mentor’s lectures.  
All told, I’ve been at it for a week, and I’m seeing progress. Not as much as I’d like, but progress nonetheless.  
I’m not too put out though, in fact I’m rather happy. Bullshit powers for the win!

Level up x41  
Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 398  
Class- Illusionist - LVL 100/100 [0%]  
Crafting Class- Golem Crafting 41/50 [22%]  
Race- Vampire Lord  
Tier- Immortal  
Alignment- True Neutral  
HP- 22020 [13212 per minute]  
MP- 38000 [28500 per minute]  
SP- 22020 [13212 per minute]  
STR- 1174  
END- 1101  
DEX - 1192  
INT - 1900  
WIS - 1900  
CHA - 1150  
LUK - 1000  
MP Regen= WIS x 15  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 12  
SP/HP= END x 20

For reaching 800 LUK you have gained a perk!  
The Dice Have Spoken  
Feel free to attempt the impossible, occasionally you’ll get the luckiest roll ever seen

For reaching 900 LUK you have gained a perk!  
What are the odds?  
Things will randomly go your way for seemingly no reason.

For reaching 1000 LUK you have gained a perk!  
Felix Felices times 3  
Felix Felices is three times as effective.  
You will receive no more perks for your LUK stat.

[Congratulations!]  
[That’s your third Mage class over and done with!]

The higher in level I’m getting, the slower the dungeons are leveling me up, but I put in a few days worth of effort and was able to max out Illusionist.

[Time for a new one!]  
[Please select a new primary class!]  
[Mage/Warrior/Thief]

Mage. I want to see what the more advanced magic classes are like. I’ve put in this much work, so it’s about time it paid off.

[Congratulations on unlocking advanced magic!]  
[Please select a specialization!]  
[Elementalist/Rune Caster/Order/Chaos/Diviner/Aether/Fae/Ley Line/Technomancy]

Ok, I recognize like one of those. Why is Diviner still an option?

[You are now capable of greater magic, but that does not mean you have to utilize it!]

Thanks for the options Game, but if I have the key to ultimate power, I’m gonna use it.

[That is your choice!]  
[The option will remain open!]

Thanks game. Hey, will more advanced options open after this?

[Yes!]  
[Each advanced class you complete will unlock others!]

Good to know.  
Alright, let’s give ‘em a look over.  
Elementalist is out. I’m good with lightning for now, and besides, with some of the other options that would be a waste.   
If Rune Caster is what I’m thinking, then it is ridiculously overpowered, and I want it, but there are some others that might be worth it.   
I’m not touching Order or Chaos because neither of those ended well for Elric or Corum, and I don’t know enough about DC’s version to risk it. About all I remember about the DC variant was Doctor Fate stealing people’s bodies, and that one witch boy thing breaking reality. I’d like the power to break reality, but I’d like to be able to control said breaking of the fabric of space and time.  
Screw Diviner. Seriously, just no.  
If Aether is what I’m thinking, it should be rather potent, but I’d rather take Rune Caster. I’d be limited to wherever there’s aether, and I’m not sure how reliable it will be.  
Fae… no. Yes, Fae are incredibly powerful, but I want nothing to do with their magic. It’s strong, but if you mess up you accidentally indept yourself to something similar to Gaunter. Albeit something much weaker.  
Ley Line would be cool… if it didn’t require me to stand in a very specific spot to work magic. I’m sure it’s powerful, but it just seems too limiting.  
Last, and certainly least, Technomancy. Given I’m in the Elder Scrolls, there is literally nothing on this list I wouldn’t take before it. I’d take Diviner before I took Technomancy. If I were in Halo, I’d take it in a heartbeat, but as I am not in Halo, it’s worthless.  
Guess I’m going with Rune Caster. It should be incredibly versatile if it’s what I’m thinking, and if studied enough I should be able to do quite a bit with it.

[Class] (Rune Caster) - LVL 1/100  
Gain 15 INT, 15 WIS, and 10 DEX per Level  
You are now capable of crafting runes in the air that create a wide variety of effects. Due to the nature of the class, you will not receive spells. Simply think of an effect, and a rune will appear in your mind. More complicated effects take longer to cast, and require more mana. As your level increases, your speed and efficiency will increase. You may also use this magic to bolster other magics you possess.

I feel a grin grow on my face as I look over the class.  
Yep, that’s about what I was expecting. This is going to be fun. I should test it out, but let’s start easy. I’ll try to create lightning.  
I hold my hand out and try to summon a lightning bolt from my new magic. A disk of blue spinning runes appears a small distance from my hand, and a bolt shoots out of it.  
The bolt is weak, far weaker than what I could do without the rune, but I’m still smiling.  
This has potential.  
I pull a random cup from my inventory, and focus on it. Another rune appears near my hand, this one green, and the cup very slowly morphs into a frog. The frog leaps off my hand, and starts lazily hopping away.  
I can’t help it as I laugh in its wake.  
That drained a shitload of my mana, and took almost a full ten minutes to cast, but it was a proof of concept. If I can turn a cup into a living organism, what else can I do?  
I look over the class again, and my eye catches on a certain part.  
I can use this to bolster my other magic huh? How does that work?  
I begin channeling my electromancy, and try to push it into a rune. A bright blue sparking rune appears in front of me, and slowly grows bigger as I push more of my lightning into it.  
The air around me starts crackling, and the ground shakes under the force of the growing blue rune.  
With a grin, I fire the bolt into the nearby wall, and the resulting explosion blows me off my feet.  
I recover easily, and look at my handy work. I start laughing like a maniac.  
Where before there was a stone wall, there is now a newly formed passage to a chamber a good twenty feet away. I just blew a hole in the wall so effectively I made a damn tunnel, and I wasn’t even trying!  
“Dusk!” There’s a snap hiss as Svar ignites her lightsaber. She runs into the room, and takes everything in. “Are we under attack?” She asks uncertainly.  
I get my laughter under control and shake my head. “I’m just testing some new stuff out. I probably should have gone outside now that I think about it.”  
The second my statement finishes, a living shadow emerges from the wall, and a grey blur speeds into the room.  
“Where are they?!” Vampire lord Serana demands.  
“Uh, sorry. No attackers, I just got carried away testing something out.” I say a little sheepishly.  
Definitely should have gone outside to test this.  
Serana takes a look around, then slowly changes back.  
The shadow condenses into Valerica, and she calmly walks over to observe the newly created tunnel. “What did this?” She asks curiously.  
I grin. “I discovered a new form of magic.”  
Svar’s head snaps from the tunnel to look at me. “You what now?”  
I hold a hand up, and create a spinning disk of purple runes above my palm.  
The three women step in to get a closer look.  
“I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this.” Serana says contemplatively. “What can you do with it?”  
“I haven’t figured out the limits yet, but I’m honestly not sure there are any.” I say honestly. This magic is incredibly OP. “The hole is from when I used it to strengthen my electromancy.”  
“So it’s a bolstering magic of some kind? Can it be used in other ways?” Svar asks as she watches the lazily spinning disk.  
I nod. “I turned a goblet into a frog a little while ago.”  
All three women freeze, and slowly turn to look at me.  
“Could you please repeat that?” Valerica asks calmly.  
“I turned a cup into a living frog. In fact…” I feel around with my blood magic a little bit, then speed off. I return holding the frog in question. “Here he is.”  
“May I?”  
I nod to Valerica, and she picks up the little creature.  
She turns him around, and probes him with her magic. She turns to Serana with a shocked expression. “I am beginning to realize what it is you see in this man.” She turns back to me with a serious expression. “Are you able to teach this to others?”  
Um, Game? Wanna take that one?

[You are capable of teaching any of your magic to anyone with the aptitude for it!]  
[As a bonus, any student you possess benefits from your Broken Limiter perk!]  
[They will learn much faster than normal merely by being your student!]

So that’s a yes, I’d still like to level the class up a bit before I start teaching others though.  
I nod at Valerica. “I can, but I’d rather get a handle on it first. If I’m going to show anyone how it works, it would be better if I understand it myself.”  
Valerica nods. “When you are capable, I would be even further in your debt if you would deign to teach me.”  
“I would like to learn this as well.” Serana says, intrigued. “It is not often that I find something I have never seen. This could be interesting.”  
Svar shrugs. “As cool as it is, it would be a bit of a waste for me. I can already do that frog trick with The Voice.”  
My eyes go wide. “Wait what?”  
Svar grins and shouts, “LAAS SIL!” The air in front of her condenses into a calico cat.  
Something immediately grabs my attention. Where the frog has no presence to my soul magic, the cat does.  
“Did you just create a soul?” I ask in shock. Serana and Valerica seem to be in similar states of disbelief.  
Svar shakes her head. “Paarthurnax explained it, but it’s a little beyond me what exactly happens. How I understand it, I’m either pulling a soul from somewhere else, or restoring something that was.”  
That makes very little sense, and I’m not going to break my head thinking too hard about it. Leave the Dovahkiin bullshit to those qualified to deal with it.  
The four of us watch the cat slink off.  
Valerica, once more, turns to regard her daughter. “I am beginning to realize what you see in this woman.” She starts walking after the cat and says over her shoulder, “I will be occupied for the next three days at least. If you have need of me, I will be in my lab.”  
As she turns the corner I catch the smallest glimpse of the little frog still in her grasp.  
That frog and cat are super dead aren’t they?   
“Well, we’re not going to be seeing her for a while.” I say. “Do you two have anything planned?”  
Serana takes a moment to recover from the shock of Svar just breathing a soul into being, and turns to be. “I do not. Is there a particular reason you are asking?”  
I nod. “I kinda want to go get the Eye of Magnus before it becomes inaccessible.” With Solitude attacked, it wouldn't surprise me if the mages start looking around for things to fight off Potema. If I were them, I'd grab as many powerful artifacts as I could then hide behind the College's wards. Actually that’s a good idea. “I should also bolster the wards around here with my runes, and layer some illusions as well.” I add as an afterthought.  
“If you know where it is, I’m good with grabbing it.” Svar says. “I’m pretty well off as far as equipment goes, but we could always use a super battery.”  
Serana nods. “I will prepare for a journey while you construct your wards. I will be ready in a few hours.” She walks off, seemingly lost in thought.  
“I’ll get ready too. Any idea how long it’ll take?” Svar asks.  
I shrug. “I’d rather not be gone for longer than a day. I’ll just teleport us there, we’ll bust everything apart, then we’ll all teleport back.”  
She raises an eyebrow. “That’ll give us away. You realize that right?”  
I give her a deadpan stare. “I would be more concerned about being exposed if we hadn’t just taken a vampire infested city with four people. My paranoia is not what it once was.”  
She chuckles, and turns to leave. “I’ll be waiting down in the mess hall when you’re ready.”

Quest added!  
[The Eye of Magnus]  
You need powerful artifacts, and there are few stronger than The Eye of Magnus!  
Objective- Journey to Saarthal and retrieve the Eye of Magnus  
Bonus Objective- ?  
Bonus Objective- ?  
Bonus Objective- ?  
Rewards- ?,?,?  
Bonus Rewards- ?,?,?  
Failure- Death

I watch her go, then look down at my hand. A yellow disk covered in runes spins into existence, and I grin.  
Let’s make this place safe.

All told, it takes me around four hours to fix everything up. I improved the wards around the temple, and added a bunch of illusions all over the place. No one will be able to break in here the same way that last group of vampires did unless they have a good mage. Or Yamato, but Yamato’s mine.  
“Are we ready to go?” I ask as I walk up to the conversing Svar and Serana.  
They both nod, and Serana says. “My mother will not be joining us, she is deep in her research.”  
I shrug. “The three of us should be more than sufficient. The only thing we really need to watch for in that place is the last draugr, but with the Staff he should be easy to take down.” I’m willing to bet the Staff of Magnus will beat whatever weird magic immunity that particular Gaulderson had. If not, I’ll just Yamato him.  
Wow, I have a lot of super powerful weapons don’t I?  
“Then let’s get going.” Svar says. “You said we’d teleport right?”  
I nod. “I haven’t tried this yet, so it might take a bit for me to figure it out.” I turn to Serana. “Could you give me a boost?”  
She tilts her head curiously, but places a hand on my shoulder. I feel a chain come into being and link our two mana pools.  
Cool, let’s see if this works.  
I channel my magic into the ground, and a large blue rune expands out from me to encompass both Serana and Svar. I pour my magic into it, and I feel Serana giving me short bursts of her own mana so I don’t burn myself out.  
After around seven minutes, the runic circle on the ground glows bright, and the three of us vanish from the temple.  
We reappear surrounded by snow standing near the entrance of Saarthal. There are no mages here, nor any sign of anyone else, so that’s good.  
I cut my magic off, and chuckle.  
That took a lot out of me, but I was able to pull it off. Now my teleportation isn’t limited by line of sight. Sweet.  
“I must say I am impressed.” Serana say as she looks me up and down. “I thought you were going to use your lightning teleportation, but that was much more exciting.”  
“Yeah, it was cool, but can we hang out for a few minutes before we go in? I’m still getting the hang of this, so that took a bit out of me.”  
“I’m not in a hurry.” Svar says, then begins scanning the surroundings with her thu’um enhanced senses to watch for attackers.  
“Thanks.” I say, and take a seat.  
Thanks to my insane MP regen, I’m up fairly quickly, and we head towards the door.  
It’s protected by a lot of nasty wards, as well as a large lock, but it’s all easily solved by Yamato.  
With the entrance now busted open, the three of us head inside.  
My first impression? The game didn’t do this place justice. Not in the sense that this place is amazing, but in the sense that the game failed to capture just how wrecked this place is. Everything, and I do mean everything is falling apart. The wood is all rotted, the stone is falling away, and even the steel and iron gates have rusted through.  
“I was expecting more.” Serana says. “This is rather disappointing.”  
“No kidding.” Svar says. She walks over to an old support column and lightly kicks it. A large chunk of stone comes free as a result. “We should hurry up and get out of here before this place falls on us.”  
“Agreed.” Serana says, and the three of us start hurrying through the ruin.  
We wind through decaying hallways, and move through run down chambers meeting no resistance. The first obstacle we come across is a weird wall with a necklace hanging from it.  
I casually take the necklace, then Yamato my way through both the wall itself and the gate that slammed shut behind me. I inventory the necklace, and we continue on.  
This place is much less threatening when you’re incredibly powerful.  
We continue on, and finally meet our first enemies. A handful of slumbering draugr who are torn apart before they can even stand.  
Wow. Why didn’t we grab this thing earlier? If it was this easy, we could have got it right after we released Serana. Eh, I was still super paranoid then. I still am I guess, but now I know I’m able to do this fairly easily.  
A few more groups of draugr, as well as some ghosts, try to stop us, but they wouldn’t be a challenge for one of us. Let alone all three of us at the same time.  
Why was I worried about this place?  
The three of us enter another large circular chamber, and find it filled with draugr. They pose no threat. Svar burns them, I electrocute and cut them, and Serana freezes and turns them.   
This is too easy.  
The air suddenly turns sour, and things just scream wrong.  
I whip my head around, and see both Serana and Svar frozen. The flame licking one of the bodies that Svar burned has stopped flickering.  
Oh shit.  
I start looking around for Gaunter, but I only find a man in a yellow robe.  
Oh, I completely forgot about these assholes.

Fasntar Leithil  
Psijic Monk  
Level- 421  
Tier- Immortal  
HP- 27,500  
Thoughts about you- He has finally found a moment to confront you.

I don’t like the sound of, ‘confront’.  
“What do you want?” I ask coldly, as the man studies me.  
There’s a moment of silence where no words are shared. The man breaks it when he says, “You are a threat.”  
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?”  
The man pulls down the hood of his robe revealing his silver hair and pointed ears, and begins striding towards me. “In all our scryings, we never found one like you. You should not be here, and our past attempts to remedy the problem have met with failure. You have forced everything from its path to the point nothing is recognizable. You have unleashed an evil on Nirn so great it has the potential to rival Sithis.” Oh come on. Gaunter’s not… actually yeah, yeah he is that bad. “We cannot determine your goals, and that worries us, so tell me, what are your goals you who are hidden to us?”  
The Psijics have been trying to get rid of me?! What the fuck?!  
“I’m not trying to destroy anything, or take anything over.” I say honestly. “So long as I’m left alone, I won’t go looking for trouble.”  
The man hums. “And yet, here you are. Seeking one of the most powerful relics left behind by Magnus. Was one of his creations not enough for you? You claim to be impartial, yet you pursue power at every juncture. This cannot be allowed.”  
I don’t like the sound of that. “What are you going to do about it?”  
The elf tilts his head, and nine more yellow robed figures shimmer into being at his back. “You cannot be allowed to continue as you have. For your sake, and the sake of all Nirn. You will surrender to us your sword, the Staff, and anything else you carry which you do not deserve. Failure to comply will result in your death.” The robed figures begin to spread out around the chamber, and slowly surround me.  
This is the definition of not good. How the fuck do I get out of this?! Speed means nothing against these guys, they specialize in time magic for fuck’s sake. I’m not familiar enough with my runes to use those, and if I try to pull out the Staff to suck their magic away they’ll just use their time bullshit to screw me over.  
If Svar and Serana weren’t frozen, the three of us could tear these guys apart, but I don’t like my odds on my own.  
I take a defensive stance, and begin to slowly back away from the men and women who are closing the distance towards me.  
“This is your last chance.” The first elf says. “Surrender yourself, and you will live. Resist, and you will be disposed of.”  
I grit my teeth, and bare my fangs. “Go fuck a cactus.”  
His angular eyes narrow at me. “Very well.” He raises his hand, and I’m about to unleash hell when the entire chamber shakes.  
“TIID!”  
The wrongness in the chamber shakes and cracks, and I snap my head to Svar.  
She’s no longer frozen, and she looks pissed. She turns to the frozen form of Serana and shouts, “STIN!”   
The wrongness cracks again, and Serana begins to move around. She quickly surveys the situation, and backs towards Svar and I. The three of us go back to back, and face down the shocked Psijics.  
“How?” The only one to talk so far says in disbelief. “That is not possible.”  
I grin. It shouldn’t be possible, but Svar’s a motherfucking Prisoner. The rules aren’t even guidelines when one of them enters into the equation.  
Svar growls at the man. “I am sick and tired of self righteous assholes trying to take my Dusk.” The last words reverberate through the time frozen space. Svar’s form shifts into a pissed off bipedal dragon who growls at the assembled mages. “I am going to kill each and every one of you.”  
“I have fought your kind before.” Serana says as she glares at the Psijics. “They were all of them disappointments.”  
I bare my fangs in a smile, and quickly let loose a rune magic enhanced ward to block all forms of magic that would allow the psijics to flee.  
I see one of the female elf’s eyes go wide, as she tries to teleport, and grin at her. “We’re not locked in here with you. You’re locked in here with us.”  
“Kill them!” The elven man screams now that the situation has flipped in our favor, and all hell breaks loose.  
The moment the first syllable leaves his mouth I slam my hand into the ground and unleash a rune enhanced torrent of lightning that bolts around the entire area. Every bolt repeatedly bounces off of walls and redirects towards the psijics, leaving Svar, Serana, and I unharmed. The psijics are forced to dodge, and divert the majority of their attention to the lightning in order to refrain from getting hit.  
Serana claps her hand together, and I sense her pulling at the monk's souls. They try to work their magic, but Serana alters the nature of their very souls, preventing them from completing any casting they attempt.  
While I force the psijics to watch the lightning, and Serana fucks with their very being, Svar goes on rampage.  
Her saber comes to life as she dashes across the distance to the psijic that was speaking, and brings her blade down towards him.   
He tries to shift time, but Serana yanks on his soul, and he abandons his casting with a gasp in favor of fighting off Serana’s attack. An action that gives Svar an opening.  
She rams the lightsaber into the monk’s head, and drives it through to the hilt. She then twists the blade around his head, and the top of his head and the majority of his brain falls free of his body.  
Seeing the shock on one of the psijics to my right, I use the lightning in the area to disguise a bolt teleport behind her and sink my fangs into her neck. I drain her quickly, and drop the husk.

You have drained a powerful creature!

Vampiric ability [King] added!  
King  
Lesser undead will heed your orders. Should they resist, you are able to force them into compliance. You must be stronger than their current master for this ability to work.

Temporal magic affinity gained!

I liked that. I liked that a lot.  
I turn back to the chaos and take it in.  
Svar has moved away from the leader, and is standing over two other dismembered mages. Serana is holding one by his temples, and sucking his soul out through his head.  
Didn’t know that was a thing you could do with soul magic, I’ll have to look into it later.  
I pull out Yamato, and turn to a group of three mages that have banded together. They all have their hands facing out towards Svar, and are holding her at bay with their magic. It’s taking all of Svar’s power to keep from being caught in the temporal freeze once more.  
I send a ranged slice from Yamato’s blade towards the mages, and their legs come off. They fall to the ground screaming.  
One tries to recover, but Svar and I are already on them.  
She crushes one’s head with her foot, and dices another with her saber while I drain the third.

You have drained a powerful creature!

Vampiric from [Owl] unlocked!

Perk [My Time] added!  
My Time  
Any temporal magic you cast is 30% more effective

I turn back to the rest of the room with my fangs bared.   
I see Serana holding the shriveled corpse of an elf she just drained, which she drops.  
Svar, Serana, and I are all perfectly fine, and there’s only one psijic remaining.  
She panics, and throws a mass of spells at us, but I deflect them all with wards while Serana yanks on the woman’s soul.  
The monk stumbles, and falls to her knees. She looks up at us in abject terror. “Please…” She starts to say before Svar interrupts her.  
“RII VAAZ ZOL!” A wave of lilac energy emerges from Svar and swallows the pleading psijic.   
The psijic screams in agony as I feel her soul ripped from her body. It flows out of her, and follows the energy back to Svar. It’s different from when she absorbs a dragon soul, but it’s a similar enough effect as I watch Svar absorb the psijic’s soul.  
She lets out a satisfied sigh, and holds her hand up. There’s a bright white energy dancing between her fingers. She holds her hand up, and waves it in front of her.  
The time stop effect left behind by the now dead mages falls at her command.  
“Impressive.” Serana says as she studies Svar. “I take it you learned that from Durnheviir?”  
Svar grins at her and nods as her scales fade back into skin. “Yeah, now I can drain just about anything’s power. Not just a dragon’s.”  
“I’m guessing you got access to their time magic.” I say. “I got the same from the ones I drained.” I hold up a hand with the same white light, though mine is fainter. It might be that stealing a soul is more pure than stealing their blood. Or it’s Dovahkiin bullshit. Either are likely.  
Serana nods, and holds up a hand with the same energy. “I did as well. It is a shame my mother was not here to partake.”  
Thinking quickly, I inventory all the bodies. I turn to Serana. “Now there’s a chance she’ll be able to get something from the ones who still had blood.”  
She nods. “Thank you. Now, may we continue? I’d prefer to leave this place before they send more.”  
I nod, and the three of us begin double timing it through the ruin.  
I really don’t want to get jumped by more psijics.  
We move through more chambers, and kill more ghosts and draugr, before we all stop when we feel the presence of a great power.  
“We’re here.” I say as I stare at the door in front of us.  
“Do you have any advice for how we should approach this enemy?” Serana asks.  
I shrug. “I’m going to drain all of his protections with the Staff, you two take him down. It should be pretty simple from there.”  
Svar nods. “Let’s do it.”  
I draw Yamato in one hand, and the Staff in another.  
“Go.” I say as I cut the door open.  
The three of us storm in, and see a draugr staring up at a large floating sphere with blue mana pouring off it.

The Eye of Magnus  
Divine Item  
A creation of unending mana made by Magnus, the God of Magic.  
Has a variety of uses

Jyrik Gaulderson  
One of Three  
Tier- ???  
HP- ???  
Thoughts about you- ???

Hello asshole.  
I don’t give him a chance. The moment I see him, I’m already draining him with the Staff.  
He howls in pain, and tries to turn towards me, but Svar takes his legs off with her lightsaber as Serana grabs his head and begins to destroy his soul.  
I almost feel bad for the guy. One moment, he’s just beholding the beauty of the Eye, then he’s on the ground, his magic is gone, and his soul is being torn to shreds.  
I keep the Staff on him, and Svar keeps cutting him apart. Before long, he’s gone.  
Rather anticlimactic after that last fight.

Quest Complete!  
[The Eye of Magnus]  
You need powerful artifacts, and there are few stronger than The Eye of Magnus!  
Objective- Journey to Saarthal and retrieve the Eye of Magnus(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Confront the Psijics(Complete)  
Bonus Objective- Resolve your issues with Psijics peacefully(Failed)  
Bonus Objective- Kill Jyrik Gaulderson(Complete)  
Rewards- The Eye of Magnus, 2 Gacha coins, The Amulet of Saarthal  
Bonus Rewards- [Mageslayer] perk, 3 Gacha Coins

Mageslayer  
You deal 30% more damage, and take 30% less damage from mages

Level up x37  
Dusk the Master of the Storm  
Level- 435  
Class- Rune Caster - LVL 38/100 [47%]  
Crafting Class- Golem Crafting 50/50 [0%]  
Race- Vampire Lord  
Tier- Immortal  
Alignment- True Neutral  
HP- 22020 [13212 per minute]  
MP- 49100 [36825 per minute]  
SP- 22020 [13212 per minute]  
STR- 1174  
END- 1101  
DEX - 1562  
INT - 2455  
WIS - 2455  
CHA - 1150  
LUK - 1000  
MP Regen= WIS x 15  
MP= INT x 20  
SP/Health Regen= END x 12  
SP/HP= END x 20

“Well, that’s done. Are we ready to go home?” I ask.  
Both Svar and Serana nod, so after grabbing Jyrik’s staff from the table, as well as his Gaulder fragment, I begin working on my teleportation rune.   
This time, I pull mana directly from the Eye, and as a result, I’m finished in a minute. There’s a bright flash of blue light, and we and the Eye appear in a room I had scouted out before we left. The Eye floats with plenty of room, and the three of us look up at it.  
“Gotta admit,” Svar starts. “I wasn’t expecting much, but this is worth it.”  
“In contrast, I expected quite a lot, and it delivered.” Serana says.  
A shadow falls out of the wall and forms into Valerica. “You were successful.” She observes as she joins us at the Eye. “It is most impressive.”  
Before I forget, I pull two blood filled corpses from my inventory and throw them to her.   
She easily catches one in each hand, and her eyes go wide when she sees their robes. “Psijics?” She asks. “Were they after the Eye?” She sinks her fangs into the first and quickly drains it.  
“As far as I could tell, I did something they didn’t like.” I say. “They wanted me dead, but Svar and Serana had something to say about that.”  
Valerica finishes draining the corpses, and holds up her hand. There’s a very faint white glow of magic that is by far the weakest of us, but she still has a smile on her face. “I thank you for this, and I apologize that I was not there.”  
I wave her off. “It’s fine. Just let us know what you learn from those two creatures Svar and I made.  
She nods. "I will. Speaking of them, I must get back." She turns into a shadow and flows back into the wall.  
I turn to Svar and Serana. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m mentally exhausted. Sleep?”  
Serana nods. “That is agreeable.”  
“No.”  
Serana and I turn to Svar.  
She looks between us, then says. “Follow me.” She walks from the room.  
Serana and I share a look, before we follow after her.  
Svar leads us through the halls until we’re back in our bedroom.  
I raise an eyebrow. “Svar, didn’t you just say no to sleep?”  
She turns around and faces us. She has an expression on her face I’ve never quite seen before. “I’m sick of worrying about when we’ll next have to fight something that wants one or all of us dead. I talked to Paarthurnax about how much I’m worrying, and he made a suggestion.”  
“Ok, and this suggestion was?” I ask curiously.   
“Dusk.” Serana says. “Stop talking.”  
I turn to her with a raised eyebrow, and see her expression similar to Svar’s.  
Ok, I’m definitely missing something here.  
Serana steps towards Svar, and caresses Svar’s face with the back of her hand. “I have been patient dragon, but that patience was running out.” Serana growls.  
Svar grins at her. “I had to be sure my nature was in check, and it is now.” She reaches a hand up behind Serana’s head and pulls her in for a kiss.  
I enjoy the show, then realize what’s happening as Serana uses her magic to pull her robes and armor off.  
Oh. I’m as dense as a goddamn neutron star.  
Svar uses her magic to take her own armor off, and both women turn to me.  
“Are you coming Dusk?” Svar asks teasingly.  
In answer, I just inventory my gear.  
I’m about to get laid.


	25. 25

(Savos Aren)

“I’m sorry, I must have heard you incorrectly. Could you repeat that please?” Jarl Laila says in disbelief.   
“You did not hear me incorrectly.” Mirabelle says calmly. “Morthal has been raized. We had several diviners watching the area in case they chose to attack once more, but they instead watched the city be torn apart.”  
“How?” Jarl Skald asks. “We would have heard if a force large enough to take Morthal had been mobilized. Even after their losses here, they still numbered in the hundreds, if not the thousands.”  
“It was not an army.” I say as I stare out a window.  
The city of Solitude is recovering quite nicely I think. Nords are quite effective when they put their mind to something, especially when they are gathered together with other nords.   
The buildings have yet to be rebuilt, but almost all of the debris created by the fighting has been cleared from the streets, and progress has begun on reconstruction. Even without the help of the mages from the College, Elisif and Ulfric would have progressed nicely. After only a few weeks, the city is almost alive again. Common enemies truly do a wonder for a people’s unity.  
Jarl Korir snorts at my statement. “Not an army? Was it the ghost of Ysgramor then?”  
I hear a quiet growl from my left.  
“Mirabelle, control yourself.” I say quietly, though I know she will have no trouble hearing me.  
She has made progress in the pursuit of coming to grips with her new reality, but her road shall still be long.  
I turn from the window and address the Jarls. “No Jarl Korir, it was not the ghost of Ysgramor.”  
He chuckles. “Well if Potema’s back, why not him?”  
“Korir.” Ulfric says coldly, and the mood in the room shifts. “Without the archmage’s assistance, we would all be dead. You will show him the respect he is due.”  
Korir holds the Jarl of Windhelm’s gaze for a moment, then turns back to me. “Apologies archmage.”  
“Accepted.” I say. “Now, as I was saying, it was not an army that took Morthal, but a small force of four individuals as well as their summons and constructs.”  
“With all due respect archmage, that’s impossible.” Legate Rikke says, not disrespectfully. “There is no way four fighters, no matter how strong, could take a city. Let alone a city full of vampires.”  
I nod acceptingly. “Before, I would have agreed with you. However, I was one of those who watched the battle itself.”  
The Jarls react in surprise at the admission. Their eyes going wide, and their focus now completely focused on my words.  
It was not easy to view the battle, I was called after several of our seers were rebuked somehow. I was only able to watch the events because I cheated. I still have a trinket or two I recovered from Labyrinthian, and one of them just so happens to be dedicated to scrying rituals.  
I pause a moment, then I continue. “Three of them were vampires. Some of the most powerful I personally have ever seen. They were able to conjure skeletal dragons, storms, and a summon I have yet to be able to determine. It was a creature that seemed to be made from lightning. The fourth individual, well…” I hold up a hand and conjure an image of the woman’s face so the gathered Jarls may see her. She has hair black as a raven’s feathers, and matching eyes.  
As expected, most of them don’t noticeably react. The Jarl of Whiterun, however, pales.  
I’m not the only one to notice either.  
Jarl Elisif asks, “Jarl Balgruuf?”  
The blonde haired man swallows heavily. “It’s her.” He says quietly. “That’s Svarline.”  
There’s a shocked silence at his words.  
Jarl Laila is the first to recover. “Svarline, as in the dragonborn Svarline?”  
Jarl Balgruuf numbly nods.  
Jarl Korir let’s out a long sigh. “You really fucked up Balgruuf.” He says, though not scathingly. He merely points it out.  
No one refutes him.  
“Was there a man there?” Jarl Balgruuf asks in a daze. “Ash colored hair and eyes?”  
I furrow my eyebrows. “There was a man with ash grey hair, but his eyes were those of a vampire.”  
“Could you show him to me?” The Jarl of Whiterun asks.  
I nod, and change my illusion to fit the man who summoned the storm.  
Jarl Balgruuf swallows again. “That’s Dusk. He wasn’t a vampire when I last saw him though.”  
“This is the man who summoned the storm. I would guess that he killed most of the city’s inhabitants just using that single spell, but he also joined the melee after casting it.” I say.  
“Do you know where they went?” Jarl Balgruuf asks, contemplative.  
I shake my head. “They left by way of a portal. They could be anywhere.”  
“Not that the dragonborn isn’t important, but we need to determine what to do now that Morthal is gone.” Ulfric cuts in. “Did the dragonborn kill Potema?”  
I shake my head. “She was not in the city when they attacked.”  
“Figures.” Jarl Skald says. “Can’t have all our problems solved at once.”  
“Since we currently don’t know the whereabouts of Potema, we must assume she still intends to continue this war.” Elisif says calmly. “I would recommend bolstering the defences of all holds. We have no way to determine where she will strike after all.”  
Ulfric nods. “We’ll continue as we have, and see what Potema does. Luckily, the dragons seem to be leaving us alone for the moment. We’ll finish off Potema, then move on to the threat posed by the dragons. Agreed?”  
The Jarls nod and hum in agreement.  
“Good.” Ulfric says. “Then let's adjourn for the day. I am needed in the city.”  
The Jarls stand one after the other and vacate the chamber.   
I return to my window and look out of it once more.  
“Savos?” Mirabelle asks from behind me.  
“I do not like this Mirabelle.” I respond. “Potema is gone, the dragons are gone, and the dragonborn is gone. Things will soon come to a head, and I fear they will all do so at the same time.”  
“If they do, then we’ll deal with them. There’s nothing else we can do.”  
I hum noncomitedly, then leave the room.  
I may want to make some preparations of my own.

(Quaranir)

“We must respond!” Iriel cries in outrage, her copper hair aflame in a magical blue. “The beast murdered members of our order. He needs to learn his place.”  
I sigh as I regard the irate mage across from me. “And what would you have us do Iriel? Mount an assault and move into Skyrim? We of the Psijic Order must remain impartial, we cannot throw away our principles for the sake of one vampire.”  
“Though I believe her rage is clouding her judgement, Iriel does present a valid point.” Calcalin breaks in. He looks around the table, and surveys each of us with his slanted eyes. “Dusk and his group have killed several of our number. We will feel that loss for some time, the loss of our brothers and sisters.”  
I put a hand up placatingly. “I am not saying that their deaths should go unpunished, but that we must be cautious in how we move. Our scryings are ineffective against him, and obviously he has ways to defend against us that we are not yet aware of. Our kin perished because we acted in haste. I do not want us to make the same mistake twice.”  
Calcalin nods in acceptance, and even Iriel seems to calm slightly.  
“Then what do you suggest we do?” Tandil speaks up for the first time. “You yourself stated we cannot scry him, and any subtler attempts to glean information from him and his have been repelled by his wards. The only thing we can confirm is that he is in fact a vampire in the company of the Dragonborn.”  
“A fact we must rectify quickly.” Tante says evenly. She leans back in her chair, and pulls her hood back, revealing pointed ears and black hair. “Dusk must not be allowed to influence the Dragonborn further. He has already led her astray, we must act quickly before she is compromised completely.”  
Tandil lets out an irritated sigh. “Yes, we must do that as well. However, we still have yet to discuss how we are going to accomplish this. I would prefer it if we would begin planning.”  
I nod in agreement, and open my mouth to speak, but the door to our chamber is thrown open with a crash.  
We all turn our heads towards the door, and see a wide-eyed Nerien standing on the threshold.  
“Prepare yourselves for battle!” He yells. “A host of dragons has been sighted above Alinor!”  
Pandemonium breaks out at his announcement as the members of the order begin screaming over one another even as they speed from the room.  
My own eyes go wide at the news.  
This is far too soon. The dragons should still be contained in Skyrim, Cyrodiil at the furthest south. How have they already made it to the Isles?  
“Quaranir!”  
I turn to regard Calcalin as he quickly strides up to me.  
“I need you to help me power the wards in the palace. You and I are the only ones capable of dealing with their complexity.”  
I nod, and he opens a portal to a very familiar hall. The two of us walk through and emerge into the Queen’s throne room.  
The ceiling is impossibly high, and several paintings of heroic altmer are displayed on its walls and ceiling. A horde of panicked warriors, lords, and servants chaotically speed around the floor. The Queen herself, a golden haired elf with silver eyes and a lithe frame, sits atop her throne with an expression of complete calm.  
“Silence!” She bellows, causing the panicked movements to cease as all focus on her words. “Alinor has stood for thousands of years, and weathered greater threats than these wyrms. Your fear is healthy, but this mindless panic is not. Get ahold of yourselves.”   
The hysteric elves within the hall take a collective breath, and regain their composure. They begin to move once more, though this time as a well oiled dwarven mechanism. Their fear is still plain to see, but it is now tempered by determination.   
The queen turns her attention to the slowly closing portal from which Calcalin and myself emerged, then focuses her attention on us. “Tell me of your movements.” She orders.  
Calcalin steps forward and respectfully bows his head. “Your majesty, the Psijic Order is mobilizing as we speak. By the time the dragons arrive, the wards we have placed around the city will be fully powered.”  
The queen nods, pleased. “And what of the farms and mines surrounding the city?”  
“They will likely be completely destroyed.” Calcalin replies calmly.  
The queen tsk’s. “Irritating. We will have to send for more cats from Elsweyr to man the farms, and more of the dunmer to man the mines. That will be expensive.”  
The door to the palace opens, and a golden armored messenger runs in and kneels at the queen’s feet.  
“Speak.” She commands.  
“The dragons have begun their descent. They will be upon us soon.” The messenger hurriedly relays.  
The queen makes a dismissive gesture, and the messenger backs away. She then turns to us and says, “My Thalmor are ready to meet the beasts head on. I would ask that you join them.”  
I bow my head respectfully. “We will assist them once we have activated the palace’s wards.”  
The queen makes a disinterested gesture with her hand, and Calcalin and I withdraw.  
Calcalin and I proceed to a rune array inscribed into the wall, and begin to flood it with magicka. The array weaves unexpectedly, but the both of us are masters of the order, so such inconveniences do not slow us. Soon, the array activates, and the palace’s wards flare to life.  
No sooner do we complete our task, than a wave of pure concentrated power shakes the ground beneath our feet.  
I hurry to a window, and can’t help it as the breath leaves my lungs at the sight before me.  
Alinor’s wards have activated, covering the entirety of the city in a shimmering white dome of energy. The sky above us has become wreathed in shadow and fire. Where once the sky was a cool blue, periodically painted white by clouds, it has become a storm of raining rocks, fire, and flying dragons of various colors and sizes.   
The rocks that rain down from the heavens impact Alinor’s barrier repeatedly, but our magic holds strong. These wards have been steadily worked on by master altmer mages for thousands of years, they will hold.  
A small group of dragons break off, and move towards the farms and mines outside the protection of the energy shield. The dragons release torrents of flame, frost, and lightning down towards the settlements, and I’m sure they have perished.  
It is a pity, but an acceptable loss.  
“Calcalin.” I say as I turn to my friend. “We are needed.”  
He nods, and the two of us teleport to where we feel the others of our order gathering.  
We emerge upon the top of one of Alinor’s defensive towers, and see several of our mages inscribing a large rune circle on the ground.  
“Good, you are here.” Iriel says, her earlier rage now forgotten in the face of the impending threat. “Take your positions.”  
Wordlessly, Calcalin and I move to do as she bades.  
We stand facing each other at the ends of the now completed circle, and begin the ritual.  
When fighting dragons, there are few methods that will always succeed. Dragons are simply too varied and versatile, and their power ranges from insignificant to almighty.   
However, we are the Psijic order. This is not the first occasion where we have fought these creatures, nor will it be our last.  
Gelebros walks to the center of the circle, and all of us on its outskirts hold our hands out to him.  
Our magic flows through the runes engraved on the ground, and into our waiting brother. His eyes glow a piercing yellow brighter even than his robe, and he holds his hand out towards the shape of a descending dragon. With a roar, he lets loose our combined power, and isolates the dragon in time.  
One moment, the dragon was preparing to test our defences, the next it was gone. Trapped forever in a single instant of reality, never to escape.  
“Again.” Gelebros says as his eyes lose their golden glow, reverting to their previous blue, and we comply.  
We continue channeling our magic to him, and his eyes glow once more.  
Several of the wyrms noticed our dispatching of their brother, and so fly with haste to stop us. They prove too slow.  
Gelebros brings his arms around in slashing motions towards the flying beasts, and freezes the air in lines around them.  
Both not noticing the disturbance, and being unable to maneuver fast enough, the dragons are cut apart by lines of time frozen air. Impossible to move by anything except time itself.   
The dragons fall from the sky in tatters, colliding with the barrier, and sliding down off of it to the ground outside the city.  
A few more moments, and Gelebros’s blue eyes have turned gold once more.  
He holds a hand out to a specific dragon who has landed atop the barrier, and is tearing at it with its claws, and clenches his fist.  
The dragon stops, then moves unnaturally in reverse. It flies backward through the air, and into several of its brothers and sisters. Tearing at them with its claws as it passes by them. Once the dragon is away from any others it could potentially damage, Gelebros unclenches his fist and the dragon returns to its position atop the barrier, only to move unnaturally in reverse once more. It tears through even more dragons on its second pass, then returns to the barrier to begin again. It is caught in a loop. Inescapable.  
We prepare for a fourth working, when a dark shadow passes over us.  
I spare a glance to the sky as I provide Gelebros with power, and behold a monster.  
The dragon has scales as black as midnight, spikes adorning its body as numerous as the stars, and a power in its presence that can be felt even through the barrier.   
The beast comes to a delicate stop in the air above us, and speaks.  
“Hin tiid los ko joor. OBLAAN!”(Your time is over mortals. END!)  
The very world responds to the dragon’s final world, and everything and everyone trembles upon beholding its power.  
The dome of white energy around the city cracks, trembles, and shatters. Fading into the nothingness from whence it came.  
The dragons roar in triumph, and fall upon the city. Lashing out with flame, claw, tail, and wing.  
The dragon Gelebros looped with our power is freed with the same word that shatters the dome, and turns toward our group with a look full of fury.  
“Now!” Gelebros shouts.  
Realizing what he wants, I respond immediately. I crouch down, and slam my hands onto the runes lining the floor around me. My fellow mages follow a mere instant behind me.  
The array lights up a bright turquoise, and flashes.  
“Quickly now! We do not have long!” Gelebrod orders.  
We all stand, and behold the scene around us.  
Everything has been frozen. The dragons pause in between flaps of their wings, the falling stone from a nearby tower hovers harmlessly in the air, even the flames have stopped licking their fuel.   
We have granted ourselves a momentary reprieve in which to act, and we will not waste it.  
Each of us teleports to a predetermined location, and begins their own work.  
Long ago, the Psijic Order prepared Alinor to be saved should the worst come to pass. The isle is not equipped to withstand the combined might of an army of dragons, and so we must flee.  
I teleport into a sparsely lit room with a glowing pale blue stone in its center. I quickly run up to the stone, and begin activating it. I am half way done when I am interrupted by a loud shout.  
“KREN!”  
The world shudders around me, and I gasp as I feel the time stop fade around me.  
The voice of the same dragon from earlier follows soon after, and I feel a chin flow down my spine.  
“Hi lost vodahmin hi faas do mu. Nii los tiid fah hi wah dahmaan” (You have forgotten your fear of us. It is time for you to remember.)  
The stone ceiling of the chamber crumbles, and begins to fall in on itself.  
I do everything I can to speed my work, but fail to complete my task before the ceiling falls down, forcing me to teleport away while holding the crystal.  
I emerge back atop the tower, and behold a scene of utter ruin.  
Our buildings have been smashed, our streets are aflame, and our people lay bleeding and dying. In our sky, a dragon of blackest scales roars its victory as its kin descend to finish what it started.  
No. This is not the end.  
I turn to the circle carved into the stone floor of the tower, and place the crystal down within the runes.  
I may have failed to transport the city away, but there is more I am able to do.  
I channel nearly all of my magicka into the crystal, and watch as it glows a bright white, before shattering.  
The explosion created from the crystals destruction throws me to the ground, and I have to weakly roll over to behold my work.  
There is a single ghostly specter clad in mages robes floating in the air above the circle.  
“Please! Your home is under attack! Defend your descendants from this menace!” I beg.  
The specter turns from me to behold the carnage around it. After a moment, it turns back to me, and gives me the barest of nods.  
Another spirit appears behind it. Then another. Then a dozen more. Then a hundred more. The air becomes cluttered with an army of spirits who stare towards the dragon horde.  
As one, the spirits charge into the air. The dragons turn to them, and roar out a challenge.  
The battle for Alinor has begun.

(Sam Guevenne)

This crunchy treat is surprisingly good. What did Sheo call it? Popcorn? I think that’s right.  
“Oooo, there goes another one papa!” My little girl cries excitedly as another boat goes up in flames. She turns to me and clasps her hands together. “Can I go play? Pleeeeeeeeeease?”  
“No.” I say as I pop some more popcorn into my mouth. “The scum are beneath you darling.”  
Slavers? Worthy of my daughter? Yeah, right.  
“But papaaaaaa…” She whines and sticks her lip out at me.   
I narrow my eyes at her. “No. No up and coming godling of mine will play with anything this mediocre.”  
My friend pops into existence next to me. “Lucky I’m not an up and coming godling then! See ya Aggy!” The crazy man begins to run across the air towards one of the boats.  
“Uncle Sheo!” My little Agatha shouts at his retreating form. “Take me with you!” She holds her arms out dramatically.  
I lightly bop her on the head. “No. We’ll see about finding someone for you to play with when we go back to Coldharbour.”  
She rubs the top of her head and grumbles as she reaches her hand into the popcorn bowl.  
“Cheer up little sister! You’ll have fun, loads of fun! Yesyesyes!” The jester sings as he plops down next to her. He leans over to her ear conspiratorially and whispers, “If you’re good, I’ll show you how to make it so a man is always smiling. That way they can be happy forever!”  
Agatha’s eyes light up. “Really?”  
The jester bobs his head up and down.   
“Okay.” Agatha says, her priorly depressed mood gone.  
The three of us sit and watch as Sheo rides the clouds into battle against the altmer slavers, much to their terror.  
“Papa?” Agatha suddenly asks.  
“Yes dear?”  
“Can we maybe try to find a boyfriend for me?”  
Reality cracks when she utters the word ‘boyfriend’, bisecting one of the slaver’s ships and sending the occupants into the sea.  
I robotically turn my head to look down at my daughter. “What did you say sweety?”  
She tilts her head adorably, and says, “I want a boyfriend. Raven said they’re fun, so I want to try one.”  
I turn in barely contained fury towards the box. “What are you teaching my daughter vile temptress?!”  
The box does nothing.  
“That’s only where other people are concerned! No one touches my daughter!”  
The box does nothing.  
“I will remove the concept of debauchery from the cosmos purely to spite you woman!”  
The box does nothing.  
I sigh heavily. “But… she’s my little agatha. She can’t grow up yet!”  
The box does nothing.  
“No, you’re right.” I take a deep breath, then turn back to my little darling. “Agatha, I promise you we will find the best of boyfriends for you, and if he ever makes you sad, Cicero can show you that smiling trick he talked about.”  
Agatha jumps up and down excitedly, then runs forward and wraps me up in a hug. “Thanks papa!”  
I pat her on the back. “You’re welcome darling.”


End file.
